Falling Behind
by Dannrose
Summary: What do you do when the world moves on without you? How do you cope when those you know have travelled far ahead of you, or have faded away entirely? After encountering a strange, inexplicable island, Snotlout must find answers to those very questions. Though it seems no more than a moment, that moment lasted fifteen years and a lot can change in fifteen years. AU.
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to a new story. I'm still galivanting in AUs though this one I think is a new kind for this fandom. As always with me, it is focused on Snotlout but the others do appear and have fairly major roles which will likely reduce as the story continues. I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I do not own any aspect of How to Train Your Dragon.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

Flying low over the ocean waves, Hookfang grumbled to himself as he headed straight for a small island ahead of him.

On his back, Snotlout was loudly complaining to his dragon, venting all his frustration at the others, "…and then the almighty Hiccup threatened to suspend me from the academy…again! All I did was try and complete the exercise he came up with but of course, it had to be done his way."

Hookfang rumbled out a reproachful answer and his rider folded his arms defiantly, "The twins shouldn't have been in the way! It's not my fault those tree branches nearly hit them!"

The Nightmare didn't deign to answer that with anything other than a snort. Personally, he believed it was Snotlout's fault, if his rider wasn't so reckless he might find himself doing a lot better at Dragon Training. Since the alliance had been formed with the Outcasts, Snotlout had been a lot less defiant to authority, he still bragged and boasted, was still proud and reckless and would argue against seemingly every idea Hiccup had but, he did do as told when Hiccup stood firm, albeit with a lot of complaining and a rather loose translation of the details. Of course, the pride and recklessness meant he still did what he thought best and would then refuse to admit that he was in the wrong when it became a chaotic mess, an event of this sort being what had led to now.

Hookfang landed upon the beach, deliberately throwing his rider off as he did so. While he cared for Snotlout very much, he did feel it was his responsibility to try to curb the boy's attitude and deal out some form of discipline (it wasn't as if Spitelout was ever going to do it). Getting up from his hard landing, Snotlout glared at his dragon, "Hookfang!"

The Nightmare smirked unrepentantly and sauntered off inland, leaving the boy to scurry after him. His rider stalked past, attempting to act angry with his dragon, and carried on ahead. Hookfang was a firm believer of not giving in to childish tantrums and left him to it, knowing that the boy would mellow and forget about it eventually.

They carried on in silence and eventually making their way through a forest and coming to a series of ancient ruins, this discovery caused Snotlout to finally speak, "Look Hookfang, this place must be really old!" He grinned, "Maybe there's a great treasure here! I'll find it and take it back to Berk to rub in Hiccup's face."

The thought of one-upping his rival removed all memories of anger with his dragon and the boy darted off into the ruins, eager to find his prize. Hookfang sighed and followed at a more leisurely pace, resigning himself to being stuck here for a while as his rider focused on his treasure hunt. Then, a sudden instinct stirred and he glanced around uneasily.

Something was off about this place.

The Dragon Riders had been to many islands in the Archipelago and he and Snotlout hadn't come that far out from Berk, yet he couldn't remember this place. He was certain he'd remember if they'd flown over it and they'd been in this area several times. How had they not encountered this island before?

He sniffed the air, it held all the scents he'd expect plus…something else, something that wasn't a scent as such but an intangible…thing. He looked around again and something else caught his attention.

Silence.

There should be sounds everywhere, wind, rustling leaves, birds chirping, animal footfalls, but there was nothing, it was far too still. All he could hear was Snotlout clambering around the ruins in search of treasure and another sniff of the air revealed less scents than before, as if they were disappearing.

He had to get Snotlout out of here!

He scurried off to where he could hear his rider and found him digging around at the foot of some mural, he looked up and smiled at his dragon, "Hey Hookfang, there's got to be something hidden here!"

Hookfang growled urgently and frantically gestured for the boy to get on him, Snotlout glowered, "Hookfang, we're not going without some treasure."

The Nightmare growled in frustration, of course this would be when his rider would choose to be stubborn. Well, he was only going to ask nicely once.

He made to grab the boy but Snotlout dodged and ran off, "We're not going Hookfang!"

Hookfang snorted in anger and instantly pursued his thick-headed rider, chasing him all around the ruins. The chase continued until Snotlout screeched to a halt to stare at a stone he'd dislodged as he clambered over one of the ruined walls.

A stone that had stopped in mid-air.

The boy gaped at the sight, "What…?" He looked up towards the surrounding forest and his surprise became fear, "HOOKFANG!"

Spurred by the terrified shout, Hookfang shot towards his rider's voice and also stopped in fear when he saw the forest.

It was rapidly draining of colour, becoming unnaturally still as if it was turning to stone. The stillness was quickly approaching and Hookfang desperately looked around for Snotlout.

"HOOKFANG!"

The cry came from within the ruins, Snotlout had probably run off to find him and they'd missed each other. Hookfang gave a loud roar and took to the air, scouring the ruins below. His view showed him that the strange colour drain was coming from all sides and approaching fast, he wasn't sure what it was but didn't want to know what happened if they were caught in it.

His eyes darted everywhere, trying to spot his rider, and he grew frantic as Snotlout remained elusive.

"HOOKFANG!"

He pinpointed the source of the shout and saw the boy down by the mural, panicked by the colour drain and lack of dragon. The Nightmare dived straight down but even as he did he could see that the colour drain was moving too quickly, he wouldn't be able to even grab his rider fast enough. Regardless, he continued diving. Whatever it was, he might be able to protect Snotlout if he covered his rider with his own body.

The colour drain right on top of him, Snotlout instinctively crouched, trying to protect himself. Hookfang slammed out of the sky, scooping the boy into the safety of his wings as he landed, risking everything for his rider.

Then, the colour drain hit.

* * *

 _Fifteen Years Later_

Chief Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, led the first Dragon Riders through the skies.

A lot had occurred over the last fifteen years, Dragon's Edge, Viggo, Drago, the death of Stoick the Vast, Hiccup's ascension to Chief, marrying Astrid and starting a family. Despite the tragic circumstances leading to it, Berk had enjoyed relative peace over the years and had flourished. The village had its own dedicated Dragon Guard, most of the Archipelago had largely accepted dragons and Dragon Racing had become Berk's biggest pastime. There had been the odd issue here or there, a rogue dragon, some dissatisfied Vikings trying to make trouble and the odd remnants of Viggo's Dragon Hunters attempting to continue his work, but they'd all been dealt with relatively easily.

Then the island had appeared out of nowhere.

It had been spotted by one of the Dragon Guard patrols, an island appearing suddenly in an empty patch of ocean, and Hiccup had declared that he'd investigate it himself. Feeling that it could mean major trouble, he'd chosen to be accompanied by his oldest and most dependable friends.

Close beside him and Toothless flew Astrid and Stormfly, his wife threw him a smile at him then focused ahead once more. Despite being a mother now, Astrid had not lost her fighting skills and he was glad she'd come along, leaving their young son, Stoick the Second, in the care of Valka.

On his other side flew Fishlegs on Meatlug, he'd naturally fallen into the role of Hiccup's closest advisor, even taking command of the village if duties as chief called Hiccup elsewhere. He'd remained as dependable as ever and had eventually married Ruffnut, how the sensible, cautious man had ended up falling for the reckless, wild girl no one really knew but they somehow made it work exceptionally well.

His wife was on Barf and Belch with her brother and while the twins never really grew up, they had matured a fair bit over the years. Ruffnut had actually, despite popular belief, proven to be an excellent mother, rearing a set of rambunctious twin girls alongside her husband. Said girls were likely rioting in the woods of Berk, not actually needing anyone to really look after them, Fishlegs' mother was technically caring for them but she'd long since learned it was best to just leave them to it since they could look after themselves just fine.

Tuffnut had remained a bachelor, seemingly happy with his role as the crazy uncle that all the kids seemed to love. They'd discovered that he had a knack for entertaining and he could keep all the children of Berk amused for hours with his one-man performances. He still pranked in the name of Loki but they weren't as destructive as they used to be and he had finally learned discretion in when and where he pranked people.

Years of flying together had turned them into the best Dragon Riders on Berk and they could still fly rings around the younger riders whom they'd trained. This was why Hiccup had chosen them to help him investigate the island, that and the fact they hadn't been on a mission together like this for a long time.

The island in sight, Hiccup signalled them to land and as one, they swooped down to the beach. The moment they touched the ground, it was clear that something very strange was going on.

The whole island was colourless.

From the sea line, right up to the forest behind the beach, everything was shades of grey and deathly still. Despite their years of experience, the Riders were uneasy and they carefully dismounted their dragons, gazing around their bizarre surroundings. Tuffnut was the first to speak, "What's up with this place?"

His sister shook her head, "No idea."

Hiccup tentatively picked up a handful of sand, "Well it feels just like normal sand, it just hasn't got any colour to it." He went to drop it then stood in surprise, "Okay…"

The sand remained in the air, floating as if it couldn't fall and Fishlegs studied it intently, "Now that's really fascinating." He looked to his chief, "It's like its frozen in place, unable to fall as if…"

"It's frozen in time." Hiccup finished. He frowned, "Though there might be another explanation, we've seen a lot of strange things." He nodded to the forest, "We need to investigate further, everyone, stay alert. We don't know what we're dealing with."

The walk through the forest was unnerving and they found more things similar to the sand, drops of water suspended mid-fall, leaves hanging completely still between the earth and the sky, even a small bird sat on a log, looking like some ridiculously lifelike statue. Silence reigned and even disturbing things created no noise, like they were in the middle of some bizarre dream.

* * *

Soon, they came to some ruins, surrounded by the forest and sat right at the centre of the island. Fishlegs studied them with an experienced eye, "I recognise these, they're from a culture that existed long before ours but there's something wrong with them…well…apart from the obvious colourlessness."

Astrid stood beside him, "What's wrong with them?"

"They're not old enough." He explained further, "From looking at these, I'd say that they're maybe only a decade or so old but if they're from the same time as the others of their kind, they should be a few centuries old."

Hiccup ran his hand along the surface of one of the walls, "You're right Fishlegs, these ruins are not old enough."

Fishlegs turned to him, "I know it sounds crazy but considering this island just appeared and taking in to account everything we've seen, I'm certain that its somehow frozen in time."

"But that makes no sense!" Astrid exclaimed, "How does something become 'frozen in time'? It can't be possible!"

Ruffnut hurried out from deeper within the ruins, "Guys! There's something you need to see."

She quickly brought them to the very centre of the ruins, where her brother was stood in front of a mural gazing down at something at his feet. The others stopped in shock as they saw the frozen, colourless form of a dragon that had disappeared fifteen years before.

"Is that Hookfang!?"

Crouching down Hiccup studied the dragon, "It is, I'm sure of it."

He reached out and carefully touched the Nightmare and as if in response, light flashed where his hand pressed against it.

He snatched it back, leaving a patch of colour in the shape of his palm. As they watched, the colour spread and covered the Nightmare, rapidly banishing the grey. As the dragon's sides began to move with his breathing, the colour spread from his body and rushed through the ground, swallowing the surrounding area and covering the rest of the island. The wind, absent before, began to blow and the sounds of the forest reached their ears, birds began to sing and anything suspended in the air resumed its descent to the ground.

However, all this went unnoticed by the Riders as they watched the dragon before them unfurl and spread his wings, revealing that he was indeed Hookfang. As he stretched and stared down at them, they found themselves almost as frozen as the island had just been.

The long missing, fifteen-year-old Snotlout was staring straight at them.

* * *

 _ **PS-So Snotlout has been thrown fifteen years into the future, how is he going to cope? Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to the second chapter. A word of warning, this is a bit of an emotional chapter but considering what the story is about, it's kind of expected. Thank you all those who've shown their support so far and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

"Guys!?"

Snotlout's voice seemed to snap them out of their shock and Astrid suddenly darted forward and hugged him.

"Snotlout!"

"Huh?"

He sat there awkwardly as the girl who was least tolerant of him tightly hugged him, completely thrown by this sudden affection he wasn't sure what to do. Things only got weirder when he realised that she was crying and then Ruffnut flung herself upon him, openly sobbing. Behind her, Tuffnut was weeping and Fishlegs looked like he could barely believe his eyes. Completely confused, Snotlout spoke carefully, "Um, what's happening?"

The two girls froze then slowly released him, wearing looks of what could only be described as pity. They all looked to Hiccup and he stepped forward, looking the most tentative and nervous that Snotlout had ever seen him, "Snotlout…"

He stopped and took a deep breath before fixing him with a look that filled him with dread.

"You've been missing for fifteen years."

* * *

Nothing could describe what Snotlout was feeling.

There was no way anything could prepare you for missing fifteen years, it was ridiculous, crazy, an impossibility. Something like that just didn't happen! At first, he'd wanted to laugh, claim it all as some stupid prank they were trying to pull but he never got that far. He'd sat there, trying to come up with mocking words for their ridiculous story but as he stared at them, he began to believe it more and more.

They were all taller, older, a couple of them even had the odd grey hair. They looked more mature, their eyes held more experience. These things couldn't be explained away by very good make up, they were too real, too genuine and could not be explained by anything other than aging. Even the dragons looked older, they were bigger, stronger and Toothless held this regal aura that he'd never seen before. Snotlout's mind wanted nothing more than to say it was just one huge dream but it felt too real, it was really happening.

Fishlegs had spouted some theory about the island being frozen in time or something but Snotlout wasn't that concerned with how it had happened, he was still too focused on the fact it had.

After the whirling maelstrom that was his thoughts after Hiccup's words, he'd run off away from everyone else, too confused and shocked to do anything else. He'd eventually come to the beach and he'd sat heavily upon the sand, trying to wrap his head around it all.

Fifteen years, that was the entirety of his lifespan. All of his peers were now double his age! What had happened to Berk in that time? What had happened to his father? The rest of the tribe? Had his family moved on, forgotten about him? He wouldn't be surprised if some of them had actually celebrated when he'd vanished. How'd the rest of the Riders been without him and Hookfang? Had they actually been better off?

He pressed his head into his hands and groaned, what in Thor's name was he supposed to do now?

"Snotlout?"

Hiccup's, older, way-more-more-mature-than-it-should-be voice came from behind him but Snotlout couldn't bring himself to answer. The man padded over and gently sat beside him, placing a tentative hand on his shoulder, "How are you coping?"

The boy nearly gave a snort of sarcastic laughter, how the heck was he supposed to answer that?

He groaned and looked up, disbelief filling his voice, "Fifteen years!" He sighed, "I have no idea how to handle this."

"Yeah, I really wouldn't expect you to."

Somehow, Hiccup's answer calmed him a bit and he gave a little laugh then looked down again, "How come no one found me until now?"

Hiccup squeezed his shoulder, "When you and Hookfang vanished, we searched for weeks. Scouring every island, attacking every enemy ship, searching every tribe in the whole Archipelago, but there was no trace of either of you." He glanced at the forest behind them, "Whatever froze you both in time concealed this entire island. Until yesterday, this was nothing but empty ocean. One of our patrols saw the whole thing appear before his eyes, we'd come to investigate and that's when we found you."

Snotlout felt him pat his shoulder, "I know this is a huge amount to take in, believe me, we're all as shocked and confused. However, we're here for you if you need us, it's not going to be easy but we'll do everything we can to help you. That's a promise."

Though still barely wrapping his mind around everything, Snotlout gave him a grateful smile, "Thank you Hiccup." He tried to lighten things a little, "I guess dad will be over the moon to see me again, he might even crack a smile."

At his words, Hiccup's face fell and he looked away. Snotlout's smile was instantly replaced by worry, "Is my dad okay? Is he alive?"

"Yes Snotlout, he's still alive." Snotlout sighed with relief but Hiccup's next words worried him, "However, he's not …the same as he was."

He lightly patted Snotlout's arm, "I'll take you to see him as soon as we get back to Berk, but I don't think I can explain it all well enough here, it'll be hard."

Before Snotlout could ask further, Astrid came out from the trees, "Hiccup! Fishlegs thinks it's likely the island will vanish again soon. We should leave while we can."

Hiccup turned and nodded, "You're right."

He stood and offered a hand to Snotlout, "Want to head home?"

Snotlout hesitated, scared of what he'd find if he did return, but he gently took Hiccup's hand.

"Yeah."

* * *

The flight home was silent.

Not long after they'd left the island, it drained of colour and faded out of sight, leaving only empty ocean once more. As they headed for Berk, no one said anything but then what could they say. For fifteen years, they'd believed Snotlout to be dead, finding him alive was shock enough, finding that he hadn't aged in all that time was even worse.

While Snotlout had slept for that time, it being no more than a moment for him, they'd lived it. They'd searched the oceans looking for him, they'd embarked on the fruitless trips to countless islands trying to find their lost friend and finally, they'd stood on the shore and fired the arrows to light the empty funeral pyre, only realising how close they'd been to him once he'd disappeared. They'd grieved and shed tears, waited for some arrogant remark or ridiculous boast that never came, for weeks Hiccup would go to give instructions to Snotlout, only to find he was no longer there and reminding them all of their loss all over again. Eventually, they moved on, accepting that he was not returning and carrying his memory in their hearts.

And now he'd returned, not even a moment older than when he'd left, and they worried about how he'd cope with the lost years, the way the world had moved on without him.

Soon, Berk came into view, its landscape greatly changed over fifteen years. Hiccup's inventions for dragon habitation melded into the village, feeding towers stood proudly beside houses, the forge had expanded and mighty stands surrounded the finish line for the Dragon Races.

As it appeared, Hiccup guided Toothless over beside Stormfly and spoke to Astrid in a low voice, "I'm going to fly on ahead and speak to the village, if we just arrive with Snotlout they'll swarm him and that's the last thing he needs. Take him straight to Spitelout's and wait for me there."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" She glanced briefly at Snotlout, "It might be too much for him."

"He needs to know." Hiccup sighed, "It's probably better that he learns sooner rather than later and he won't stop asking until he does."

She glanced sadly at the boy once more but nodded, "Okay."

He gave a small smile then pulled away, reaching the village well ahead of the others.

* * *

As he landed, villagers flocked towards him, Gobber in the lead, "And there he is! Well Chief, how did it go?"

Hiccup dismounted Toothless and looked over the sea of worried faces, "We investigated the island and I'll give a full explanation in time, however, when we were there we found someone who's been missing for a very long time."

He paused, bracing for the inevitable uproar, "Snotlout Jorgenson."

Instantly there was a mighty outcry and people pressed in from all sides, throwing questions from all angles.

"How'd you find him?"

"Where's he been?"

"Was he captured?"

"Does he know about his father?"

Hiccup nodded at Toothless and the Night Fury gave a loud roar, silencing the crowd. The chief gave his friend a thankful smile then addressed them, "I'll answer all of your questions as best as I can but firstly I must ask all of you to please give him some space for the time being, he's been through a lot and is still very confused and shocked about it all. Please don't bombard him with questions and give him time to readjust to being back on Berk, he has been gone for fifteen years. I'm going to take him to see his father now but I will give a full explanation as to everything that has happened in the Great Hall shortly, please make your way there if you want answers."

Obediently, the crowd gradually dispersed and shuffled off towards the Great Hall, Hiccup gave a short sigh of relief before remounting Toothless and flying towards an out of the way house in a quiet corner of the village.

* * *

Snotlout was torn between rushing into the house and refusing to enter at all.

Astrid had brought him straight to where his father now apparently lived. It was a small hut, built on the outskirts of the village close to the sea cliffs and forest. It was not the kind of place he imagined his father living and he wondered what had caused him to move from his old home.

Toothless landed with a flapping of wings and Hiccup was soon stood beside him, the man looked down at him, "You ready to go in?"

Snotlout hesitated, he feared what he'd find and he remembered Hiccup's expression when he mentioned his father, he both did and did not want to see him. A gentle hand was placed on his back and he looked up to see Astrid, she gave him a soft smile, "C'mon."

She guided him over to the door and knocked, it opened to reveal a much older Mrs Thorston and the woman gasped in shock when she saw Snotlout.

"I don't believe it!"

She made to speak but Hiccup interrupted her, "We'll explain later but he needs to see Spitelout."

She gaped a bit but then collected herself and nodded, "Yes, of course."

She held the door open and Astrid shared a look with her husband and Hiccup spoke, "Snotlout, I need to go and tell the village what happened but Astrid will stay with you."

Snotlout glanced at him and nodded and Astrid gently guided him inside. As the door closed, Mrs Thorston began speaking, "I'm not sure how much Hiccup has told you but I'm afraid that the years have not been kind to your father, he's aged far quicker than he should've done." She paused at a second, closed door, "I can promise that this will be really difficult for you to see, if you think you need more time then please take it."

Snotlout took a deep breath, he'd never been one for taking time over anything, "It's okay, I want to see him."

She nodded in understanding and gently opened the door, "Spitelout, there's a special visitor here to see you."

With a gentle push from Astrid, Snotlout entered the room.

It was small and clean, a neat desk stood against one wall and a large rocking chair was sat in the corner. The back window was open, letting in the sound of the ocean and one or two weapons decorated the wall. The back wall was graced by a large bed, liberally covered with blankets and Spitelout himself was sat there, propped up by several cushions.

He did indeed look very old, his hair and light beard were completely grey, neatly combed and well cared for. Though not wrinkled, his face was haggard and his once mighty build was frail and small. He was wrapped in blankets and hands that once wielded an axe with little effort, were now gently clasped on his lap, looking weak and weary.

He looked up as they entered and Mrs Thorston pushed Snotlout forward, "This is Snotlout, he's been really wanting to visit you."

Spitelout looked at his son, "Snotlout…" He smiled, "I once had a son called Snotlout."

Snotlout stepped forward, "Dad…"

Spitelout frowned, "Or was his name Griplout?" He smiled again, "Well you look like a fine young Viking, I was like you once, had adventures you wouldn't believe. I took on some of the strongest dragons, though my son was one of the first to ride them."

He then looked away vaguely and fell silent, Snotlout turned to Astrid tearfully, "Why doesn't he recognise me?"

She placed her hands on his shoulders comfortingly as Mrs Thorston answered, "It's not his fault, for the last couple of years he's slowly become more and more ill. The healer says that its incurable and that we'll eventually lose him. He often doesn't recognise anyone, not even his closest friends and his memory has been disappearing."

Astrid spoke softly, "Me and Hiccup visit as often as we can but there are times when he doesn't remember meeting us at all, sometimes he doesn't even respond to us being there and other times he knows exactly who we are. Today was actually a good day for him, he remembered a little about you, even if he didn't know it was you."

Snotlout looked back at his father not knowing what to say, Spitelout was still staring away somewhere, his eyes not really seeing and not even knowing they were there. Suddenly, something inside him snapped and Snotlout felt the urge to get out. Astrid tightened her grip on his shoulders, "Do you want to go?"

He quickly nodded and looked to Mrs Thorston, worried about her reaction. She smiled understandingly, "It's okay, I know it's a lot for you to take in. You can come back and see him anytime."

He managed one grateful nod and hurried out, Astrid right behind him. The moment he was outside, he stopped as his mind processed everything he'd seen in that room. His bold, brash, arrogant, strong, proud father had looked so small, so frail. He'd been so peaceful but so empty, not recognising his own son, even as he remembered him. He'd never thought his father would ever look like that, it was so wrong and it brought to light just how much he'd missed, how heavy his missing fifteen years were.

The burden too much to bear, a sob escaped his lips as he fully grasped just what had happened to him. He barely registered Astrid's arms pulling him into a tight hug as everything burst forth and he started to weep, mourning everything that had once been and would never be again.

The weight of fifteen years was a heavy load.

* * *

 _ **PS-Sorry for the heavy emotion there. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to the third chapter. This one shows a little more of how the others are trying to get their heads round what has happened. Thank you all for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

The emotional exhaustion had finally taken its toll on Snotlout.

He cried for what felt like an age and once he finally stopped, he fell into silence, barely saying anything to anyone. He didn't notice how the people of Berk stared at him as Astrid led him through the village, Hiccup had spoken to everyone about what had happened but it was one thing to hear about it and quite another to see it. At least any sceptics would soon have enough evidence to confirm the truth of their Chief's words but that wouldn't make things any easier. A meeting had been held to discuss how to handle the situation and by the time they reached the Great Hall, a plan had been decided.

For the time being, Snotlout would stay in the home of Eret. It was a little out of the village and not far from where Spitelout now lived, Eret himself was another bachelor and had a spare room that the teen could make use of and the man was more than happy to give him a place to stay.

Snotlout had simply run with the plan, too drained to care, and the moment he'd been shown his new home, he crawled into bed and fell asleep.

* * *

Eret was quietly working in his kitchen and he briefly glanced through to his young lodger in the spare bed.

He was probably having the easiest time handling Snotlout's sudden return, he hadn't been around fifteen years ago and all he knew of the boy was what people had occasionally mentioned over the years. This was one of the reasons he'd offered to put the teen up, he never knew the boy so the time discrepancy wasn't an issue. It had been debated at great length but that fact was also one of the reasons why the village council had agreed with the idea.

The main focus was getting Snotlout readjusted to Berk once again as gently as possible, seeing all the people he'd known fifteen years ago could prove too much in the first few days or even weeks, getting to know a proper stranger could help ground him a bit as he reconciled fifteen years ago with the present day. The fact that Eret didn't have a family also helped, Snotlout wouldn't have to deal with children on top of readjusting and he'd have a place to escape the rest of the village if he needed to.

After much backing and forthing, the decision was made and Eret now had a teenager living under his roof.

Hiccup and Astrid had hung around for a while, telling their friend what they remembered about Snotlout to help him befriend the boy, but had eventually taken their leave when it became clear that the teen wasn't going to wake anytime soon. Snotlout's dragon, Hookfang, had pushed his way inside as well and was currently positioned close to his sleeping rider, taking up most of the space in the spare room. Skullcrusher had been initially thrown by this young Nightmare and teenager in his rider's house, but the Rumblehorn had soon accepted it and was settled by the fire, watching them with interest.

As he opened his cupboards to get some items for dinner, Eret frowned.

He'd have to get some more food in, seeing as he was now providing for two people, he'd need to sort that out tomorrow. He glanced at Snotlout's discarded boots, it was likely he'd need to get the boy some more clothes as well, the ones he'd have left behind wouldn't have lasted fifteen years so what he was wearing was all he had. He'd speak to Valka about that tomorrow as well, she was a dab hand at needlework and could probably whip something up for him. Thankfully, Snotlout's boots still looked in good condition so they probably wouldn't need to be replaced for a while.

Snotlout murmured and shifted in his sleep and Eret felt a twinge of pity.

He couldn't imagine what the boy was going through, fifteen years gone in a blink of an eye and being left behind by your peers. Waking up to discover that your friends were now twice your age and moved on with their lives, and as for his father…well that would have been a kick in the teeth and a half.

Eret continued his dinner preparations, wondering just how he was going to look after his new charge.

* * *

Hiccup sat in his father's old chair, tiredly rubbing his eyes as he wrestled with the day's events.

Crazy didn't cover it and he was having immense difficulty figuring out how to deal with it. Behind him, Astrid was quietly preparing dinner and his mother was sat in the corner sewing. His son, Stoick, was on the floor by the fire, playing happily with Toothless in childlike bliss.

He unintentionally let out a sigh and his mother looked up from her work, "Hiccup?"

He shook his head, "I have no idea what to do."

She gave him an encouraging smile, "You've handled it well so far, you've stayed calm, protected Snotlout from being overwhelmed by everything and even given him a place where he can take the time to get to grips with what happened."

"I know, it's just…" He sighed again, "He's been left so far behind. We're all twice his age with our own families and responsibilities, those who were younger than him are now older and his peers hadn't even been born when he vanished. Berk's changed immensely and I don't know if he'll be able to adapt."

"He will Hiccup, just give it time and he'll adjust to how much things have changed, and we'll all be there to help him."

He hummed in agreement at his mother's words but still looked troubled and Valka waited a moment for him to voice his further concerns.

"But what about the rest of the village, all of his peers grew up in this Berk. They have very different experiences from him, making him so different from them. What if he ends up isolated from them all?"

His wife came up behind him and gently squeezed his shoulders, "He won't end up isolated Hiccup, maybe he will seem very different at first but people will learn to accept that. The village is far more open-minded and accepting these days, mostly thanks to you." She hugged him from behind, "He has us, the other riders, Gobber and loads of other people to support him so there's no use worrying about it. Things will work out, you'll see."

He slowly smiled, "You're right."

She quickly kissed him, "I'm always right."

He lightly returned the kiss, then frowned in confusion at his mother's work, "Mom, what are you making?"

She held it up, "A new shirt for Snotlout, the poor boy will be needing more clothes before long. All he has now is what he was wearing when you found him." She resumed are work thoughtfully, "I just hope it fits, I was guessing his size from when I saw him earlier and using the guideline of how big his father was at his age. Though I think he's shorter than Spitelout was back then, still, better too big than too small and he may grow a bit yet."

Hiccup groaned, "I was so focused on working out how to help readjust, I forgot that he has practically nothing."

Valka chuckled, "That's why you listen to mothers, these are the sort of practical things they think of." She glanced up, "Your wife was ahead of the game, she's already cobbled together another pair of trousers for him."

He looked up at his wife in surprise, "Astrid?"

"It wasn't that big a deal." She returned to preparing dinner, "I actually resized one of your old pairs, its rough but will serve until he gets a proper new pair."

"Daddy?"

A little voice piped up and Hiccup turned his attention to his son, who was stood in front of his father wearing a curious look, "Who are you talking about?"

The chief grinned, "An old friend of daddy's called Snotlout. He went missing for a very long time but we found him today."

"Why did he go missing?"

"He got stuck on a strange island."

"Why did he get stuck?"

Hiccup suppressed a sigh, knowing full well where this was going.

* * *

Morning had long since broken by the time Snotlout finally woke up.

He sat up in alarm at first, not recognising where he was, but he quickly saw Hookfang and calmed, then it all came back.

He'd missed fifteen years and everything had changed, his friends, the village, his father…

He felt a harsh stab of pain…his dad…so ill he now didn't even recognise him or anyone else. Never mind the rest of the changes, that was the hardest thing of all.

A nudge from Hookfang distracted him and he gave the dragon a sad smile, "Hey Hooky."

The Nightmare rumbled gently and lightly nuzzled him and Snotlout sighed, "What do we do now? We're fifteen years behind everyone else. I don't know how to handle this, everything is so different now and my dad…"

He sniffed slightly and Hookfang immediately nuzzled him more, trying to help his rider stem the tears. Eventually, Snotlout hugged his dragon, "Thanks Hookfang."

There was a knock on the door and Eret cautiously poked his head round the door, "Snotlout?"

The boy looked up at him, hoping that he didn't look like he'd almost cried, "Yeah."

The man smiled, "I thought it sounded like you were awake." He opened the door a bit more and flicked his head towards the room beyond, "There's some food ready for you if you want it."

He disappeared into the next room and Snotlout thought about it for a moment before getting up and following him.

* * *

The room was just as Snotlout expected, open plan with a large fire pit at its centre, there was a kind of kitchen area at the back and a set of wooden stairs disappeared upwards, probably to Eret's own bedroom. Eret himself was putting a couple of wooden plates on the table near the fire and there was some food already placed there, Snotlout made his way over and sat down, feeling incredibly awkward.

He'd only met this man yesterday and in a way, it didn't really count, he'd been so out of it he could barely remember them being introduced, he remembered the man's name but that was it. As if realising this, Eret held out his hand, "I'm Eret, son of Eret. Hiccup asked if I could give you a place to stay for the time being."

Snotlout took the proffered hand, "Snotlout Jorgenson, and, thank you."

Eret smiled again, "Well then Snotlout, help yourself."

The teen did so with gusto, suddenly realising how hungry he was, and the next several minutes passed in silence as they both ate. Strangely enough, the silence was comfortable, odd considering the fact they were basically strangers. Eventually, Snotlout smiled at his host, "Its good."

Eret grinned, "Well, I get a lot of practice seeing as it's just me and Skullcrusher here."

He nodded towards the fire and Snotlout took a look at the green dragon sitting there, he'd not paid much attention to him at first but now he realised that he didn't recognise the species, "What kind of dragon is he?"

"A Rumblehorn." Eret smiled with pride, "He's a powerful dragon with a nose that can sniff out a scent pretty much anywhere."

His curiosity aroused, Snotlout began asking more questions and soon it developed into a full conversation as both of them got to know each other better. Time was forgotten and morning rolled into afternoon unheeded as they talked. It was the most normal Snotlout had felt since he'd woken up the day before and for a while, he forgot about the fifteen years he'd missed.

* * *

Eret found he enjoyed the company of the teenager that had suddenly appeared under his roof.

The boy had a keen knowledge of weaponry and being well trained himself, he found himself discussing the strengths and weaknesses of various weapons at length. Snotlout favoured heavier weapons like maces and hammers while Eret preferred the versatility of swords, further discussion had also revealed that the teen had a potential talent for archery but Snotlout seemed to become embarrassed and quickly moved the topic on. Eret liked being able to discuss such things, with Berk being peaceful and home to dragons, the study of weaponry wasn't as prevalent as it was. Of course, everyone was taught how to use at least one type of weapon but the main focus was dragons so actually finding someone with a broad knowledge of weapons and how to use them was pretty novel.

They'd just been debating the advantages of spears over axes when a sudden knock came from the door.

Eret frowned and glanced at it, he didn't really get many people visiting except for Hiccup and the other riders and this knock certainly didn't belong to any of them. He got up and went over to the door, opening it to see Sophia Ingerman standing there with a basket of fish.

She helped her father on one of the fishing boats and was a distant cousin of Fishlegs, Eret knew her because her father was the man he usually got the fish for Skullcrusher from but this was the first time she'd actually knocked on his door. She smiled, "Sorry to bother you but you hadn't come down to collect your dragon's fish like you usually do. I thought it might be an idea to come and deliver it to you."

Eret was confused for a moment then realised that it was late afternoon, meaning that he had indeed missed his usual collection time. He smiled, "Thanks Sophia, something came up and I didn't realise the time."

Even as he said this, he got the sense that something was slightly off. He'd been late to pick up his fish before but Sophia had never come up to deliver it to him, why today? He then noticed her trying to subtly peer around him inside the house and he frowned, what was she looking for…? Then, realisation hit.

Snotlout.

Hiccup had announced what had happened to everyone yesterday but not many people had actually seen the boy yet, most would be wanting confirmation themselves and they would know that the teen was staying with him. Spohia had likely been sent up to catch a glimpse of the boy and report back, she may have only been a child fifteen years ago but she would've been old enough to recognise Snotlout and, according to Hiccup, he had been pretty well-known on Berk before he vanished.

Moving himself to block her view, Eret held out his hand, "Now, I'm sure your dad will want you back down at the docks to give him a hand."

She looked briefly surprised as his words distracted her from getting a glimpse of Snotlout but quickly recovered and held out the basket, "Of course, here."

Still smiling, he took the basket from her, "Thank you, just wait a moment and I'll empty this out and give it back to you."

He quickly vanished inside, shutting the front door behind him, and soon emptied the basket and stepped back outside to hand it back, "There we go, tell your father that I'm grateful he sent you up to deliver the fish. I should see him at the usual time tomorrow."

Though she returned the smile, he could see her frustration that she didn't get what she actually came for. She took the basket back, "It's alright sir, I'm sure he'll be pleased to see you."

After one last attempt to peer into the house, she nodded goodbye and made her way back towards the docks, no doubt annoyed that she hadn't achieved her actual goal. Eret went back inside and closed the door but kept it slightly ajar so he could peer down the path. As expected, several others shot out of hiding and began speaking to Sophia, most likely to find out if she'd seen Snotlout inside. He sighed and closed the door properly and turned to find Snotlout staring at him in confusion, "What was that about?"

Eret hesitated before deciding there was no point lying about it, "Someone from the village finding an excuse to knock on my door and see if you are actually here."

The boy looked down sadly, "I guess I'm going to have to get used to that aren't I."

Eret smiled, "They'll get used to it eventually, at some point the novelty will wear off and they'll find something else to be fascinated about."

Snotlout didn't respond and Eret wasn't sure if he'd said the right thing or not. He tried to think of some way to distract the boy again and he suddenly smiled.

"Have you ever seen a katana before?"

* * *

 _ **PS-So a bit of Snotlout and Eret interacting there. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to today's second chapter, I know, absolute madness! This is another pulling the heartstrings one but you can expect quite a bit of that in these first chapters. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

Once again, Snotlout stood at the door of the house his father lived in.

Last time he'd been here, he'd had no idea what was waiting inside, he'd woken up after being frozen for fifteen years to a world he didn't fully recognise. Now, it had been a few days and he knew exactly what awaited him.

In some ways that was worse, he was going in knowing full well that his own father may not recognise him.

He held up a hand to knock and hesitated, he'd initially thought about asking Astrid or Hiccup to come with him but he'd stubbornly quashed that idea. How could he properly adjust if he couldn't see his own father without someone to hold his hand, he'd been taught to be fully reliant on yourself and this was no exception. He had to be able to visit his father alone and the only way was to go and do it.

Mustering his courage, he knocked.

There was a short wait, then, Mrs Thorston opened the door. Her face lit up when she saw him.

"Snotlout!"

He looked up at her nervously, "Can I see dad?"

She smiled, "Of course you can."

She gestured for him to come in and he quickly did so before he could lose his nerve, as she opened his father's door, she spoke quietly, "He's actually asleep at the moment but you can sit with him if you want. He was talking all about your Thawfest wins this morning, I can't say for certain but I think seeing you a few days ago jogged some of his memories. Most of what he's been saying has been about you."

Snotlout didn't really hear her and when the door opened, he fully focused on his father.

He was in bed like last time but this time he was clearly asleep, his frail body largely covered by several blankets. He was breathing gently and Snotlout was struck by how peaceful he looked. The man he remembered had been loud, even in sleep, and would snore uproariously all night, this quietness was almost unnerving.

Snotlout slowly walked to his side and stood there, not sure what to do. Mrs Thorston placed a chair for him and he sat down, she briefly touched his shoulder, "I'll be around if you need me, just ask if you need anything."

He nodded and turned his focus on his farther, barely noticing her leave the room. For ages, he simply sat and studied his father's frail features, trying hard to acquaint them with the ones in his memory. The similarities were almost the biggest shock, it was clearly his father but at the same time it wasn't anything like him. The skin was too pale, to fragile, the face was the wrong kind of worn, looking like it became that way through exhaustion rather than working out in all weathers every day. It contrasted sharply with the weather-beaten, full, strong face he remembered but was still his father's face.

Unable to look anymore, Snotlout turned his eyes onto the bedside cabinet. There were several books stacked neatly on its undershelf and one of them seemed strangely familiar. Reaching down, Snotlout gently pulled it from its place and placed it on his lap to read its title.

 _Jorgen and the Berserkers_

It was an old Jorgenson legend that at some point, someone had written down as a children's story. It told the tale of how Jorgen single-handedly fought back Berserker invaders through a mix of cunning, guts and skilful fighting. Who'd written it, Snotlout had no idea, but it had been passed down through his family and his father had read it to him the way it had been read to him by his father. It had been one of his favourite stories as a child and even now, he could remember how his dad had read it to him, complete with voices for all the characters. It was a little-known fact but his dad had a brilliant storytelling voice and he'd loved the nights when he'd sit on his father's knee as he brought the tale to life. Of course, he'd grown older and the storytelling had stopped, being replaced by training and expectations.

A tear fell onto the book as Snotlout remembered those days, far too long ago, when his father had read to him. He looked back at his father's face, once again seeing the frailty that didn't belong. He looked back down at the book and slowly opened it, finding it exactly as he remembered. Without knowing why, he began to read aloud, the way his father had done for him so long ago.

" _A long time ago, upon the Isle of Berk, Jorgen was out training. On the horizon, a fleet of strange ships appeared…_ "

He continued to read to his sleeping father, not noticing Mrs Thorston peering in with a tearful smile.

* * *

Eret had noticed his young charge's sombre silence but hadn't mentioned it, thinking it best for Snotlout to bring it up himself.

Over the few days since the teen had awoken, he'd mostly stayed in the house, keeping to himself as he got to grips with what had happened. Eret had let him do that, sensing that the boy really didn't feel ready to face the rest of the village yet. The other riders had all dropped by regularly when they could but they were also giving the boy space to deal with it all.

Eret had been surprised when he'd come home from some tasks he had to attend to just to find that Snotlout had disappeared. Initially he'd been worried and had been about to run out to find him when he'd stopped himself, he guessed that the teen might've gone to visit his father again and it was probably best to just wait for him to get back. Eventually, as night was beginning to creep in, Snotlout returned in silence and offering little in way of explanation as to where he'd been. Eret didn't call him out on it though and simply made dinner for them both and let the boy decide if he wanted to share or not.

Finally, when Eret was busy washing the dishes, Snotlout finally broke the silence.

"I went to see my dad again today."

Though not surprised by this, Eret still wasn't sure how to respond, in the end he went for the simple answer, "How was he doing?"

Snotlout looked down at the table, "He was asleep, but he looked well enough, I guess."

The boy crossed his arms and placed them on the table top, resting his chin upon them, "I just can't get used to seeing him like that. He used to be so strong, so confident, heck, he basically believed he was invincible. I could never see him being as frail and weak as he is now."

Eret placed the plate he was cleaning down gently, "It's hard when you see it happen. Throughout your childhood, your dad is seemingly the strongest person around and you can't ever imagine him as anything else. It only becomes worse if he was genuinely that strong in reality."

Snotlout's voice became sadder, "He doesn't even recognise me. When I saw him for the first time, I wanted nothing more than for him to say my name. Maybe I thought that this whole thing would be easier if he was the same, if he was still here. But, when he looked at me…he didn't know who I was." He buried his face in his arms, "I don't know if I can keep seeing him."

Eret sat across from him and gently touched Snotlout's arm, "I know it's hard and I can't say I know how it feels but I don't think not seeing him is the answer. He's still your father and somewhere in his mind, I'm sure he knows you. He just can't reach that part anymore."

"But what if he vanishes completely? What if it all fades away?" The boy looked up at him, his eyes filled with tears, "I don't want to see him like that!"

He dropped his head once more, "Even if it is selfish."

"But if you don't go to see him, you'll just hate yourself for it." Eret placed a gentle hand on the boy's head, "It hurts and its hard but that's just a part of loving your father, even if everything he knows, every memory in his head vanishes, he'll still be your father and he'll still love you."

"I don't think he's ever said he loves me."

Snotlout's voice was quiet, barely audible, but it held so much sorrow Eret felt his own heart break. He softly ruffled the boy's hair, "Even if he's never said it, he loves you. Just hold onto that and one day, you'll find it to be true."

His only answer was Snotlout's sobs as he cried.

* * *

 _ **PS-Yeah, more emotional heart tugging. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon (though probably not today).**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to another chapter. This time, Snotlout encounters some of Berk's current generation of teens. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

Days passed and Snotlout largely stayed away from the village and despite the emotional struggle of doing so, he continued to visit his father each and every day. However, there were good and bad days.

Sometimes, Spitelout was almost normal, telling him all about things from his past and people he'd known and even telling jokes. Other times, he was entirely blank, staring vacantly in the air and not responding to anything around him. Some days, he'd tell the same story two or three times, not remembering that he'd already said it and Snotlout quickly learned to just act like it was new each time it happened. At times, he'd tell a story with the wrong people in it or he'd mix up their names without realising it. He'd also stop in the middle of speaking and simply blank out and remain like that for the rest of the day and once or twice, Snotlout had spent his whole visit introducing himself over and over again because his father had forgotten he was in the room.

However, one constant was that his father never recognised him, no matter how well he was that day. If he heard Snotlout say his name, Spitelout would smile and say how he once had a son called Snotlout but he never connected the Snotlout he was speaking to with the child he'd lost fifteen years ago. This was the hardest thing of the whole situation and Snotlout desperately wanted his father to recognise him, just once.

Whenever he wasn't with his father, he was usually flying Hookfang or at Eret's house. The man had become something of a support to Snotlout, they shared a few common interests and often the man would distract him with his collection of foreign weapons whenever the boy was extremely down about what had happened and if it became too much and Snotlout just wanted to cry, he let him do so and said nothing about it, something the teen was immensely grateful to him for.

The other riders had also done what they could but how they'd changed had really shocked him. The fact that four of them had children was particularly hard to process, he'd not met any of the kids yet so he was having a hard time imagining what they'd be like despite how much he'd heard about them. The other shocker had been the fact that Fishlegs and Ruffnut were married, that was one match up he'd never have seen coming. Hiccup and Astrid had been completely expected, they'd been making doe-eyes at each other since Hiccup had made peace with the dragons (he'd only continued flirting with Astrid to annoy them) so them being married was a given. The way they'd all matured and grown had also shocked him and it highlighted just how far he'd been left behind.

Once he got past the changes in his friends, he then had the rest of the village to contend with and that was something he hadn't even begun to look at.

Until today.

* * *

He stood nervously on Eret's doorstep, looking up in the direction of the main village square.

He'd decided last night, in proper Snotlout fashion, that he was going to look at the rest of the village today. All he'd seen so far was the small section he walked through to reach his dad's house, he hadn't registered most of what he'd passed when he first arrived because he'd been so shocked by everything that had happened. Now though, he intended to finally go to the areas of the village he'd frequented so often fifteen years ago. Hiccup and a couple of the others would probably say he'd be better off going with one of them but he'd been determined to do it alone, it wasn't like he'd been known for listening to them in the past anyway.

Hookfang rumbled at him encouragingly and he smiled and patted the dragon's snout, "Thanks Hookfang."

He took a deep breath and marched up towards the square, refusing to let himself chicken out before he could get there. As he walked, he passed quite a few people and he was painfully aware of them staring at him. Several people had come up with an excuse to knock on Eret's door over the last few days, wanting to get a glimpse of the boy who'd been frozen in time. Eret had always managed to tactfully fend them off and if he wasn't in, Snotlout just didn't answer the door. This meant that a lot of people hadn't seen him yet so the stares were expected.

He tried to ignore them as he passed, groups would huddle together and mutter quietly to themselves and others would hurry of to tell their friends but thankfully, no one attempted to actually speak to him. He realised that a small crowd were trying to subtly follow in his wake and he was beginning to understand why Hiccup would've preferred to be with him. As chief, Hiccup would've been able to send the watching crowd elsewhere and let him see the village square without an audience. Unfortunately, Snotlout himself had no such power so he'd be being watched by most of the village. He could turn back and ask Hiccup to accompany him later but then everyone would see him doing that and the gossip would spread. He grimaced, yeah, he was not going to give them that kind of fuel, he didn't need them thinking he was too scared to go to the square by himself. He pushed on and soon came to the village square, stopping dead at what he saw.

It was kind of the same as it was but bigger.

The forge had increased dramatically in size, its work space seemingly doubled and being run by two or three people instead of just Gobber. The square's centre was dominated by a large dragon feeding station and Snotlout had a feeling it was the main one for the village. Dragons of all kinds flocked to it, grabbing what they wanted and then moving on, some had riders who'd empty net loads of fish into it, topping up what was there.

The steps to the Great Hall were the same as before though they were now bore more ornamentation indicating Berk's greater wealth. In the cliff face behind the village, a large statue of Stoick had been carved, accurately replicating the late chief's stern but trustworthy figure. Around the rest of the square stood various amenities such as the food stores, the armoury, what looked like a school house and…a beauty parlour? The last one really confused him since he didn't think he knew what one of those was, he spotted that it was only females going in and out so he suspected that it was a 'women only' place anyway.

He slowly started walking again, as he and Hookfang stared around the square in awe, trying to get used to how busy the place was. He spotted a group of teens that were roughly his age (well…biological age) and he headed towards them deciding that now was as good a time as any to meet them.

As he approached, he began to hear what they were talking about.

"Oh please, Tinderclaw can out race anything. Especially with me riding him!"

This had been said by a brown-haired boy who was a little bit taller and more muscular than the rest, he was answered by an agile-looking, red-haired girl, "Don't be ridiculous Peregrine, me and Crushgrip run circles around you and that Typhoomerang."

A dark-haired, petite girl also added to the conversation, "I just don't see why you enjoy those races so much Fenja. They do nothing to help a lady maintain her looks."

The last teen was a small, blonde boy and he spoke up almost nervously, "Well I don't mind the Dragon Races so much but Silverwing doesn't like it when they get too violent."

"Dragon Races!?"

All four of them spun round in shock at Snotlout's words and the dark-haired girl puffed herself up in annoyance, "And just who are you?"

He scowled at her tone, "Snotlout Jorgenson."

She did a double take as the others gasped and the blonde boy spoke excitedly, "Wait, aren't you the one who was frozen in time for fifteen years!?"

Snotlout's scowl faded at that reminder and he nodded awkwardly, the boy started firing questions at him, "What was it like? How did it happen? How did you wake up again? Was it…?"

"Woah there! What's your name?"

The boy looked startled by Snotlout cutting him off, "Oh, sorry. I'm Huginn."

He was pushed aside by the other boy, "I'm Peregrine, just about the best Dragon Rider of my generation."

The red-haired girl snorted, "Ignore him." She smiled, "I'm Fenja and I'm actually the best Dragon Rider of my generation."

Snotlout eyed them critically, not convinced by their claims, but focused on the other girl, "And you?"

She sneered, "Maribelle Jorgenson."

"WHAT!"

Snotlout stepped back in shock, another Jorgenson, another member of his clan and since he didn't recognise the name, she must have been born after he'd vanished. He gaped at her, "Wait! Who's your father?"

She smirked, "The head of the clan, Spinelout Jorgenson."

His shock instantly faded at that and his expression darkened, "Wait, so let me get this straight. _Spinelout_ is now head of the Jorgenson clan?"

That was something he really didn't want to hear, he couldn't imagine his loudmouthed, stuck up, moron of a distant cousin being head of the clan. Okay, with his illness his own father was not up to the task anymore but surely, they could've found someone better than Spinelout.

Maribelle shrugged carelessly, "The clan chose to transfer leadership over to him when Spitelout went bonkers."

"TAKE THAT BACK!"

Snotlout was already getting angry at the thought of his distant cousin becoming clan head (which was his inheritance originally) but the girls careless and scornful way of speaking about his father's illness made it spike faster than Toothless could fly.

He lowered his voice dangerously, "Don't you dare speak about my dad like that!"

This time, she took a step back in shock, "What! Spitelout is _your_ father?" She recovered herself and spoke primly, "Well, it makes no difference. _My_ father is clan head since _you_ weren't around to inherit the position from Spitelout."

Snotlout stepped forward, filled with the urge to rearrange her face, but a sudden, joyful shout rang out and stopped him.

"SNOTLOUT! There ye are lad!"

Gobber pushed his way through the crowd that had gathered and pulled the teen into a bone-crushing hug, "It's so good to finally see ye again! Hiccup said ye might come out into the rest of the village soon, I was hoping I'd be around when ye did." He kept a firm arm around Snotlout's shoulders as he guided him through the crowds and towards the forge, "Ye've got to see all the expansions the forge has had, it's very different from the tiny place where I did dragon dentistry. I make saddles and all sorts here now, though I've got a whole team to help me these days."

As he continued speaking, he led Snotlout into the forge and towards the back, away from the villager's watching eyes. He pushed the boy into a seat and then settled into one himself with a huge sigh, "Well, that first meeting with yer new peers could've gone better."

"Why is Spinelout head of the Jorgenson clan?"

Snotlout glared up at the aged blacksmith, his anger not even close to fading, and Gobber gave a second sigh, "When yer father became too ill, the Jorgenson clan made the decision to transfer leadership to Spinelout. At the time, you were considered dead so there was no heir, someone had to be picked and they chose him."

The man looked at him sadly, "I'm sorry ye learned about it that way, I'm sure Hiccup was going to tell ye when ye were slightly more adjusted to things."

The boy glowered at the floor, "It's not just that, the way that girl spoke about dad…"

"Just ignore Maribelle. She's been a thorn in everyone's side for a long time." Gobber smiled slightly, "She's actually been more of a pain to the village than you were."

Snotlout shot his gaze up to the man, "What do you mean by that?"

The man frowned, "C'mon lad, ye know full well that some of your stunts and attitudes upset everybody, there's no point trying to deny it." His gaze softened, "But at least that was you just being an overly thick-headed, overconfident Viking. We could just whack ye round the head a say you were being an idiot." He glowered, "But Maribelle is a proper little madam, putting on airs and graces and acting like she's the greatest thing in existence. With her father as head of the Jorgensons, she has the support of most of the clan and she thinks that this makes her automatically superior to most others. Doesn't help that her clan treats her like some sort of princess, as do many of the young lads about her age." He snorted, "Stick her in the forest alone and I bet she'll become a gibbering wreck, she has absolutely no idea how to fend for herself and I wouldn't rely on her in any kind of crises."

Snotlout chuckled a little and Gobber grinned, "That's more like it!" He smiled gently, "I know yer finding everything hard right now but don't go taking things Maribelle says to heart and adding to yer troubles. She's just a pompous little girl who has no idea what the world is really like."

The boy managed a small smile, "Thanks Gobber."

The man smiled then stood with a groan, "Oh, I'm getting old." He gestured towards the rest of the forge, "Now, what do ye say to seeing all our new saddle designs? I'll create one for Hookfang as a welcome home present."

Snotlout's smile widened and he eagerly followed Gobber to look at saddle designs.

* * *

 _ **PS-So Snotlout's relationship with other members of his clan will be rocky, not helped by the fact he's basically been disinherited. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to the chapter. This time Snotlout has more encounters with his peers as he spends more time out in the village. Thank you all for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

"You want me to WHAT!?"

Snotlout stared at Fishlegs in disbelief but the man was unperturbed by the boy's tone, "We believe it best if you start attending the Dragon Training Academy classes along with the other dragon riding teens, both to get them used to you and to help you and Hookfang out."

"But I don't need to go to any dragon riding classes!" The teen folded his arms, "I've technically been riding Hookfang for fifteen years, in fact I was one of the first Dragon Riders, remember?"

Fishlegs wasn't moved, "But you've been frozen in time for most of that period, you're now fifteen years of dragon knowledge behind everyone else. When you were flying with us we were discovering things as we went along, the other teens your age have all the knowledge we've learnt over the years already. Like it or not, they're ahead of you. You need schooling!"

Snotlout scowled defiantly, "Me and Hookfang can manage just fine!"

"Snotlout Jorgenson!" Fishlegs thumped his fists to his waist and leaned forward intimidatingly, "You will be at class tomorrow! Try and skip out and I will find you and drag you there, _understand_?"

The teen took a step back in surprise at Fishlegs being so authorative and Tuffnut spoke up from where he'd been leaning against the wall watching the whole exchange, "Don't fight him dude, when Fishlegs uses that tone of voice you don't argue. Even I've learned that one."

Snotlout glanced at him and then back at Fishlegs, seeing the man's formidable stare, he relented with bad grace, "Fine! I'll be there."

Fishlegs pointed his finger right in his face threateningly, "You'd better be."

He nodded in satisfaction and strode out the door, Tuffnut followed and gave Snotlout an encouraging salute, "I'll come back to drop off some stuff to help you out, see you later."

He disappeared out the door and as it swung shut, Snotlout spun round to look at Hiccup, Astrid and Eret, who were sat at the table, "Since when did he get so…demanding?"

Astrid simply smiled, "Its Fishlegs and education, no one argues with him about that except for Hiccup."

Hiccup shrugged, "He also married Ruffnut and is rearing two headstrong little girls, he learned to be forceful pretty quickly."

Snotlout moodily sat across from them, "Just what are these classes anyway?"

Hiccup smiled, "The development of the Dragon Training Academy. After the events with Drago, I thought it best to put something in place to help Berk's kids properly train their dragons. It kind of replaces the old Dragon Training in that when they reach the right age, they learn all about different dragons and how to handle them. They also learn how to take part in the Dragon Races and every year a big set of races is held for them to show off their skills."

"But me and Hookfang don't need to learn that stuff."

Astrid sighed, "We've discovered a load more new dragon species over the last fifteen years, not to mention everything new we've learned about ones we already knew about. Fishlegs wasn't wrong when he said you're way behind, you were there when we were just starting to learn but we've got fifteen years' worth of knowledge now that you don't."

"Never mind the fact you weren't here when the Dragon Races were invented." Hiccup added, "Most of your peers have already had several races apiece whereas you've not had any."

Snotlout huffed, "Me and Hookfang will still rock at them."

Astrid simply rolled her eyes and didn't comment and Hiccup sighed, they both stood together and Hiccup spoke, "Well, we better get going." He looked pointedly at Snotlout, "Don't try and skip class tomorrow, Fishlegs will carry out his threat if you do, believe me."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be there."

The chief shook his head and left the house with his wife.

* * *

The next morning, Snotlout was trudging up towards the arena, carrying a large book given to him by Tuffnut with Hookfang sauntering behind him.

The Nightmare was now proudly sporting a brand-new saddle, courtesy of Gobber, which the teen thought was pretty impressive. It was a high-backed chair that sat comfortably on Hookfang's neck, two metal bars protruded from its bottom to act as foot rests and the teen found the whole thing far more comfortable than the simple leather one he used to use. Hookfang himself seemed to quite like it and it actually wasn't nearly as heavy as its large size suggested.

They entered the arena to find that it had also changed over the last fifteen years.

Though still the same building, several renovations had taken place. The old dragon pens had been converted into classrooms and one was now some kind of library. Extensions had been built around it to act as storage for all sorts of Dragon Training tools and could all be accessed from the main arena. Hiccup's fire prevention systems had been installed in a way that allowed them to be activated with ease and one area seemed to be some sort of basic blacksmith forge.

In the centre of the arena stood a group of familiar teens, along with what had to be their dragons. As Snotlout approached, Huginn spotted him and grinned excitedly, "Snotlout!"

The other three turned to look and Maribelle snorted in disgust, Peregrine and Fenja on the other hand grinned, "Hey Snotlout."

"Hello."

He didn't get a chance to answer since Huginn started chattering happily, "I didn't know you'd be coming to these classes. Have you met our dragons yet?"

He was about to likely introduce his dragon when Peregrine barged in, "Well then, meet Tinderclaw. The best dragon on Berk!"

He gestured to a Typhoomerang which stood proudly. From behind him, Snotlout heard Hookfang give an unimpressed snort. Again, he didn't get a chance to comment since Fenja shoved the boy aside, "As if!" She gestured grandly to another dragon, "Crushgrip is the far more superior one of our dragons."

Snotlout properly looked at her dragon, seeing what looked like a bizarre merge of scorpion and reptile. He gaped in amazement, "What kind of dragon is that?"

Fenja smiled proudly, "She's a Triple Stryke. They're really temperamental and don't often take to having riders, I'm one of the few who's actually trained one. Astrid was the first."

Crushgrip gave a roar and lashed her three-barbed tail impressively but Hookfang snorted and pointedly looked away in disinterest. Huginn tapped Snotlout's arm, distracting him from studying the Triple Stryke more, "You haven't met my dragon yet."

A thin, agile looking dragon, covered in what appeared to be metal, came up and gently nuzzled the boy. Huginn laughed slightly, "This is Silverwing, he's a Razorwhip but is actually quite gentle and friendly."

Silverwing rumbled happily and Hookfang wandered up and grunted at him, the Razorwhip responded and the Nightmare briefly gave him a friendly nuzzle before moving to stand right behind Snotlout again. The teen leaned against his side as he answered proudly, "Well this is Hookfang, the first dragon to win the Thawfest Games and the best Monstrous Nightmare around."

Hookfang roared in agreement and shot Crushgrip and Tinderclaw a smug look. Maribelle scoffed, "Hookfang, really? You clearly just took the name of Gustav's dragon and flipped the words, his Nightmare is far more superior to yours."

Hookfang growled and Snotlout bristled, "I was riding Hookfang before Gustav even had a dragon! We took part in the fight against the Red Death and helped forge the peace with the dragons in the first place. If anything, Gustav was the one who took Hookfang's name and flipped it!"

His dragon gave a snort of agreement but Maribelle simply looked away primly, "Doesn't matter, your Nightmare is far behind our dragons and is clearly the weakest one here." She smiled smugly, "Any half-decent dragon rider can see that."

"And where's your dragon?" Snotlout challenged, "What condition is it in?"

She examined her nails, "See for yourself."

She gave a whistle and a Nadder appeared beside her. The dragon was admittedly a fine example of its species, its scales were a beautiful shimmering green and its spikes seemed to shine as if polished. It lowered its head and Maribelle lightly stroked its snout, "Cordillia receives only the best care and attention, she gets the finest food in a diet that has been perfectly balanced to keep her in peak condition. Unlike your weakling of a Nightmare."

Cordillia looked Hookfang over and sniffed at him, the Nightmare growled dangerously and lit his fire coat but the Nadder simply looked away dismissively. The situation could've flared violently as both rider and dragon let their anger grow but Fishlegs' voice halted it.

"Good, you're all here."

The teens all turned their attention to him and Snotlout reluctantly did the same. The man smiled approvingly at him before speaking to them all, "Well then, let's begin. We'll be spending the first part of the lesson in the classroom with a quick dragon knowledge quiz, after that we'll move onto practical work."

He began ushering them towards one of the classrooms and Snotlout saw Maribelle give him a smirk. He glowered back and decided there and then that he was going to outdo her, he'd been a dragon rider before she'd even been born and there was no way he and Hookfang were going to fall short now.

He'd show them he was the best.

* * *

"So, how did it go?"

Fishlegs answered his chief somewhat carefully, "Fairly well, all things considered."

Hiccup frowned, "You don't sound very convincing Fishlegs."

The man sighed, "I'm starting to think it was a bad idea putting Snotlout into the classes with the others." He saw Hiccup's worried expression and quickly clarified further, "Before you make assumptions, Snotlout himself didn't actually do anything wrong. In fact, he probably listened better than he ever did fifteen years ago."

"Then why do you think putting him into the classes was a mistake?" The chief frowned once more, "Surely that's a good thing?"

His friend sat down heavily, "Well yes, it is. The problem though, is that he and Hookfang are much further behind everyone else than we thought and I hate to say it but, from what I've seen. Hookfang is far less powerful than most of the other Nightmares, even the ones that are at roughly the same stage of development." He sighed again, "The others have noticed and I think its driving a wedge between Snotlout and his peers, not to mention that its likely tearing his self-confidence down. The fact that Maribelle is happily mocking him every chance she gets won't be helping in the slightest either, you know how hard he can take things like that, no matter how much he pretends it doesn't bother him."

Hiccup sat across from him, "I knew she'd be a problem, her family basically hate him, but I thought the others would be welcoming enough to balance that."

Fishlegs shook his head, "Peregrine and Fenja are too embroiled in outperforming each other, when it became clear Snotlout wasn't up to their level, they stopped noticing him. Huginn would've been far friendlier but he's a pretty shy kid, Snotlout's closing himself off from the others because he's embarrassed about being so far behind and Huginn won't push the barriers he's putting up." The rubbed his forehead worriedly, "I'm worried that Snotlout is going to push himself away from everyone until he does something rash, like run off on Hookfang!"

Hiccup shared his friend's worries. Running away from Berk would be exactly something Snotlout would do, the boy didn't think hard about his actions and he certainly wouldn't consider the consequences of doing such a thing. However, it was likely he'd remain on Berk because Spitelout was here but if something happened to his father, well there may be nothing to keep the boy from leaving. Unfortunately, their long-lived healer, Gothi, had said that there was a risk that Spitelout's illness could cause him to deteriorate dramatically at any time. It had been largely level over the last couple of years but it was a fact that he wasn't going to get better, sooner or later they were going to lose him and when that happened, Snotlout could leave with no intention of coming back.

He sighed and made a decision, "We'll leave him in the classes for now. Hopefully, as he improves they'll all warm up to each other more and sort it all out."

Fishlegs still looked worried, "I hope so."

* * *

 _ **PS-So yeah, Snotlout is not getting on very well with the other teens. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to chapter seven. This one introduces another character as well as a previously hidden skill of Snotlout's. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

Despite Hiccup's hopes, things between Snotlout and the others didn't really improve.

As the teen attended Fishlegs classes, it became much more obvious just how far behind he was. Things which were common knowledge to his peers were brand new to him and there was a lot of what was considered 'basic' knowledge that he didn't have. Fishlegs and the others tried to encourage him by saying that it wasn't his fault, the others had grown up in the dragon-friendly Berk whereas he hadn't, but it didn't help much. In the past, he'd have blustered his way past his obvious lack of skills but that trick no longer worked in the slightest, he couldn't even fool himself with it never mind anyone else and his former arrogance had become a poor defence. Even without his huge lack of dragon knowledge, he'd have been struggling behind everyone else. Though he might've appeared clueless, he actually was very good at comparing the skills of different people, including his own. When your family was focused on being the best, you picked up skill evaluation pretty quickly. Even in his eyes, it was obvious that Hookfang was outclassed by most of Berk's active dragons.

He'd expected Toothless and the dragons of his old friends to be well beyond him and Hookfang (they'd flown together for fifteen years after all) but he thought that dragons of a similar, biological age would've been far closer to Hookfang's level. Unfortunately, they were actually beyond his and since his class contained the best of the generation, their dragons were even further up the scale. This large power gap was evident to pretty much the whole village and with Vikings being Vikings, comments and opinions of it were bound to appear.

Most people didn't say anything to him directly but Snotlout's long-held desire for praise meant he knew how to hear what people thought he couldn't. Some people believed that being frozen in time had somehow weakened Hookfang, they said they were sure he'd been more powerful than that fifteen years ago so his strength must have been sapped somehow. Others theorised that it was simply a matter of experience, most Berkians these days had a dragon partner from an early age so they formed deep bonds of trust and understanding. In comparison, Snotlout and Hookfang's partnership was actually quite young. Discounting the time-freeze period, they'd actually not even spent a year as dragon and rider so of course those who'd grown up with their dragon would be much further ahead. Many others (especially those who'd never liked Snotlout) stated that it was just who he was. They declared that he'd been one of the weakest Dragon Riders fifteen years ago so he'd obviously be the weakest now, it was how it was going to be for him and that was that. One or two even went as far as to murmur that he was Berk's real 'hiccup'.

That last one really stung him, never in his life had Snotlout ever thought people would call him a 'hiccup' in the same tone they'd once spoken about the boy who was now their chief. It was the tone of snide disappointment, dripping with anger and the crushing assumption that he'd never do anything worthwhile, filled with the insinuation that everyone would be better off without him. Yes, he'd longed for his father's approval, his praise, and yes, he'd been scared of disappointing him but he'd never thought he'd fail so hard as to be considered the village embarrassment.

But to some, that was exactly what he was.

He was miles behind his peers, his dragon was far weaker than others and he didn't seem to be able to do anything that someone else couldn't best him at. Time was, he was one of the best fighters of his generation, Astrid may have beaten him most of the time but, as Thawfest proved, he could seriously challenge her if he was focused on what he was doing. His father had insured that he could fight and his training had encompassed a variety of weapons, most of them he could wield with effective skill but once he'd started training with them again, he'd found that someone his age could use it better already and was beyond his ability.

It was very demoralizing.

His old, confident, overly arrogant shell had been chipped away into nothing, everyone knew he couldn't back his claims and any of his old brags were now nothing but air, easily pushed aside and ignored. He was rapidly being outshone by those around him and was being buried by the skills they all had, he couldn't do anything to stand apart and his class very quickly became 'the best riders of their generation…oh…and Snotlout'. The only thing that made him stand out was the fact he'd been frozen in time for fifteen years, however, that soon became another reason for him to be shunted aside and he gradually let himself slip out of view.

* * *

Walking in silence back towards Eret's house, Snotlout didn't look anyone in the eye.

Hookfang walked at his side, the way he had done since the island, and he too seemed to be avoiding people's gazes, as they had been for quite some time now. They were returning from visiting Spitelout and it had put Snotlout in a melancholy mood.

It had been a 'bad' day for his father, he'd been unresponsive and blank the entire visit, not registering anyone or anything, and though Snotlout had spoken at great length, no reply or recognition had happened. A day like this always upset the teen, it was when he found visiting his father the hardest and it only hammered home the fact that his dad was fading away. Normally, he'd return to Eret's and spend the night brooding but something unusual broke into his depressing plans.

"Snotlout."

He vaguely realised that someone was requesting his attention and he looked around in confusion, his thoughts disturbed. Beside him, standing outside a small, homely-looking hut, was an elderly lady he recognised instantly.

He blinked in surprise, "Grandma!"

She wagged her finger at him, "You better have a good explanation young man. You've been back for weeks yet you've still not visited your frail, old grandmother!"

"Um…well…"

In all honesty, the thought hadn't even occurred to him, everything had sort of collapsed on him at a rapid rate and he'd forgotten about his elderly relatives, his dad's illness had been far more dominant in his mind.

Even as he tried to stutter out an answer, his grandmother smiled, "I'm just messing with you. You've had a lot going on recently so it's no wonder you've not visited yet." She nodded to her home, "Why don't you join me for some dinner, it's just finished cooking and I can finally catch up with my favourite grandson."

He grinned a little, "I'm your only grandson."

She waved a hand dismissively, "Meh, minor detail." She ushered him inside, "I'm afraid Hookfang will have to stay outside, he's far too big for my tiny house but he can stick his head in through the back window."

Snotlout found himself being pushed into a seat at the small table inside as his grandmother bustled about her little kitchen, Hookfang already had his head through the back window and she tapped him on the nose, "Now don't even think about munching on any of my cakes mister, I'll skelp the scales off you if you try."

The Nightmare rumbled in understanding and she scratched his favourite spot before plonking a monster of a cake in front of her grandson, she served him a slice that was closer to a quarter of the cake and sat herself down across from him, "Oh, it's good to sit down. I've been baking all morning." She glanced at Snotlout, seeing him being slightly hesitant about eating his cake, "Well hurry up and eat it, we've got a whole cake to eat!"

Snotlout quickly began munching away, finding it to be just as delicious as he'd guessed. They sat in silence for a short while until his grandmother spoke quietly, "So, what do you think of Berk these days?"

He slowed in his chewing as he pondered the question, what did he think of Berk?

In a way, it was a very unusual opening question, he'd have expected to have been asked how he was getting on, was he adjusting and that sort of thing. Instead, she was asking his opinion on the changes the village had been through over the last fifteen years, he swallowed and answered slowly, "Its…different I guess. The village seems far more prosperous, the dragons are pretty well integrated and its far more developed."

His grandmother nodded then asked another question, "And how do you find it living here?"

Again, Snotlout pondered his answer before speaking somewhat hesitantly, "Harder…I suppose." He sighed, "Everyone seems to be miles ahead of me in everything, all the things I used to excel at, someone can do better."

"I suppose that's true." His grandmother paused for a beat, "But do you think that's really a bad thing?"

"Yes."

She raised an eyebrow at his quick reply, "Why?"

"Because…" He faltered, not sure how to explain it, "Because…because everyone looks down at me for it, they talk about how much weaker I am than the others, how I'll never be good at anything." He looked down sadly, "They see me as a disappointment."

Quicker than he could blink, his grandmother clipped his ear.

"OW!"

Snotlout rubbed his ear and glared at her, "What was that for?!"

"For being narrow-minded." She answered brusquely, "Do you honestly believe that you don't have a skill of your own that you excel at?"

Snotlout frowned, "What do you mean."

She sighed, "Snotlout, we both know that you're excellent at archery."

He looked away, slightly embarrassed.

Archery was an odd skill in Berk's culture. While its merits in battle were very much acknowledged, it wasn't considered a 'proper' Viking skill. It was good for hunting and gaining a tactical advantage but the focus had always been on close combat weapons such as swords and maces. In his family in particular, archery was almost a shameful thing to excel in. Real Jorgensons launched themselves into the thick of the fray, not picked their foes off from a safe distance. As such, Snotlout had only received basic training in the use of a bow from his father, simply because it was necessary. However, he'd discovered that he had a talent for it and had continued to train in archery secretly, in fact, his ability with any long-distance weaponry was pretty good. Slings and bolas were a piece of cake and he could even throw heavier weapons like axes and maces pretty well (with the odd exception here and there), knives were another one he could launch with competent accuracy and he'd spent ages practising with them just in case. In short, give him something to throw and he'd do so with great skill.

Unfortunately, these sorts of techniques were almost considered 'cowardly' by his family so he'd made sure to never reveal how well he could use them. His grandmother had been the only one who'd ever known and he'd begged her to keep it a secret.

Snotlout spoke quietly, "No one would ever be impressed with that, it would only make them think that I'm even weaker than they believed."

His grandmother sighed, "How long are you going to keep pretending like this? Why do you even bother?" She leaned forward, "You're never going to be like everyone else so stop trying, just accept the skills you have and work with them. Not doing so is only going to make your life full of disappointment."

He didn't answer and she spoke softly, "You know, your great-grandfather was an amazing archer himself."

Snotlout looked up in surprise, "Really?"

She nodded fondly, "Yes, one of the best Berk had ever seen. He could take down a high-flying Monstrous Nightmare with one shot, at night, in the middle of a battle, while barely looking. His skill was incredible." She snorted, "Of course, a lot of people didn't care about that. They used to say he was 'un-Vikinglike' because of it, even if his bow-skills saved their lives numerous times in the dragon raids." She smiled, "However, he never let it bother him and he continued to hone and use his skills, no matter what people thought."

"He really did that?"

Snotlout's voice was tinged with amazement, how could you keep going with something when everyone scorned it?

His grandmother nodded, "Of course, he believed that he could only change people's minds about archery if he kept using it to help Berk, not once did he ever regret his decision."

Snotlout looked down, his mind pondering what he'd heard, and his grandmother stood and shuffled over to a large chest. After long moments of rummaging through it, she returned with a bow and placed it on the table, "He made this in his later years and gave it to me so I could pass it on to someone with the potential for archery. Unfortunately, no one ever cropped up." She winked at him, "Until you of course." She handed the bow over gently, "I'd been meaning to give this to you for a long time before you vanished, I just wasn't sure when would be the best time but that time seems to be now."

Snotlout reverently took the bow and examined it, it was carved from a strong, supple length of wood and was rather plain. It had a simple grip of wrapped leather with no ornamentation, it was unstringed as he'd expected but he could see that it was carefully and lovingly crafted.

His grandmother tapped the bow lightly, "He deliberately left it undecorated, wanting whoever received it to be able to add their own personal touches, and it has no quiver to go with it. However, its well-made and I've made sure to keep it in top condition over the years, it should serve you well and if I didn't know better, I'd say your great-grandfather made it specifically for you."

She gently took his hand, "Snotlout, despite the difficulties and pain skipping the last fifteen years has brought you, it's also given you a unique opportunity. You have a chance to throw off the pretence you've hidden behind most of your life and be your own person. Forget about how the others best you and instead focus on your own talents, do that and I'm sure you'll prove to everyone that you are far more than they think."

Snotlout's grip tightened on the bow and he looked up at his grandmother with a smile, "Thank you Grandma."

She laughed and ruffled his hair, "Anything for my favourite grandson." She winked, "By the way, there's a weapon tournament day coming up and I've heard that archery is one of the events."

She grinned slyly.

"Could be perfect for a dramatic reveal."

* * *

 _ **PS-So Snotlout may consider focusing upon his archery. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and with the alert system fixed, I'm finally updating again. This chapter is largely in Hookfang's perspective and he dishes out his own brand of revenge. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

THUNK!

An arrow embedded itself right in the centre of a crude target painted upon a tree. Another swiftly followed it and yet another, leaving three arrows grouped neatly together.

Hookfang gave an impressed rumble and Snotlout briefly grinned before going to tug the arrows out again. As he watched, the Nightmare couldn't help but feel a little proud of his rider, it seemed the boy had taken his grandmother's words to heart and was fully focusing on his talents in archery. Ever since he'd been given the bow, he'd spent a lot of time both using and working on it. He'd created his own bow string and regularly checked to see how it was holding up, he'd re-wrapped the grip, getting a higher quality of leather as well as adding slight ornamentation to it. He'd also put in decorative additions along the bow, carving it with a slight pattern as well the Jorgenson crest. It wasn't just the decorative aspects he changed, he also made alterations to the bow itself, making it more suited to how he wanted to use it. In short, Snotlout had converted the basic bow into his own unique weapon and (in his personal opinion) Hookfang thought he'd done a good job.

His rider had also put his little-known needlework skills to use and created his own quiver for his arrows. It bore a rather impressive (as far as Hookfang was concerned) Monstrous Nightmare design and belted neatly to the boy's back, placing his arrows within easy reach. It also boasted a nifty locking mechanism (designed by Hiccup of course) which held the arrows firmly inside to prevent them spilling out in an event where Snotlout may have to pull off acrobatics on Hookfang, they'd tested it quite extensively and were confident that the mechanism worked perfectly.

Once Snotlout had his bow, he'd immediately began practicing once more and his skills slowly returned to top form after several weeks of no use. Now, archery practice was an established part of their day, alongside visiting Spitelout and Dragon Training, and Hookfang could say without hesitation that archery practice was when his rider was happiest.

Initially, Snotlout had been wary, sneaking out early in the morning so that no one in the village would see him as he disappeared into the forest to practice. Already feeling incredibly judged by the rest of the village, the boy hadn't wanted to add to things by being spotted training in an 'un-Vikinglike' skill but the moment he was out of sight, he instantly relaxed and would smile as he thought up new ways to challenge himself with his bow. It had been like this before they'd been frozen for fifteen years, Snotlout would take some time once a week to practice his archery, out of sight of his father and friends. It had been some of his happiest moments then as well and Hookfang had loved accompanying his rider to these practice sessions, it was their secret.

Now though, Snotlout was slowly being more open with his interest in the bow.

It had been accidental at first, the boy had become so absorbed in his archery, he'd lost track of time and was nearly late for dragon training. They'd rushed to the Academy and only realised they'd forgotten to drop the bow off at the house when they'd got there. It technically wasn't a problem but it did mean most people had seen Snotlout with his bow and realised he'd been practicing with it. After that, it was like the boy slowly realised hiding it was pointless and gradually grew relaxed with wandering about the village with his bow and quiver.

However, no one actually knew just how good he was with a bow.

Having retrieved his arrows, Snotlout wandered back over to him, "Hey Hookfang, let's do some aerial shots."

The Nightmare rumbled happily and let him clamber into his saddle, once the boy was safely seated, he took to the air and flew up above the treetops. They did a couple of lazy circles before his rider got them back on track, "Okay Hooky, we'll go for the low-flight shots first."

Hookfang grunted his understanding and wheeled downwards, low-flight shots were exactly as they sounded, Hookfang flew low through the trees as Snotlout fired at his targets. It was also something of a trust exercise, Snotlout had to trust that Hookfang would avoid obstacles in their path while he focused on his archery and Hookfang had to be mindful of his rider as he flew. The fact they could pull it off would probably cause Hiccup to dance in delight seeing as it was an adaptation of one of his training exercises from fifteen years ago, these days it was a simple, routine practice run for them but most people could attest that it hadn't been like that in the past.

As per the norm, they breezed through it with ease and quickly moved on to their more difficult drills.

* * *

As he landed outside the Academy, Hookfang felt pretty chuffed with himself.

He and Snotlout had finally managed to pull off a difficult, aerial shot that they'd been working on for some time. It involved considerable effort for both of them with more than a hint of danger if they got it wrong, they hadn't seriously screwed it up so far but they had come close, so actually completing it was quite the achievement.

The other class members and their dragons were already waiting but even seeing them couldn't dampen Hookfang's mood.

Much like his rider was with his peers, Hookfang wasn't that friendly with the other Academy dragons. Tinderclaw and Crushgrip weren't too bad, they were a little overconfident and arrogant but he could tolerate them (he had managed Snotlout after all). He was on better terms with Silverwing, he was pretty friendly even if he shared his rider's shyness and Hookfang could happily spend time with him.

Cordillia on the other hand, was unbearable.

She was as full of herself as her rider, acting superior because of her 'perfect' diet and the fact she was Maribelle's dragon. In all honesty, Hookfang felt that she couldn't really call herself a 'dragon', she was too sheltered and spoiled, never having to worry about fending for herself or even taking part in any battles. He doubted she'd have any idea on how to fend for herself if she ever needed to and she probably wouldn't last more than mere moments in a proper fight.

As his rider dismounted, he heard Maribelle's comment, "Your inferior dragon making you late again."

Hookfang snorted and glowered at the girl, she really didn't realise that he understood her perfectly. She'd never once used his actual name, always referring to him as 'inferior' or 'dragon' or simply 'animal' and he really hated it. Her continual put-downs of Snotlout also grated his nerves like nothing else and he'd often felt the desire to burn her where she stood.

He didn't fully understand the details but he knew that she was some sort of relative of Snotlout's (one of the distant ones that the boy had often spoken to him about on the nights when the pressure from his family had become too much) and that there was some issue between his rider and the rest of his 'clan', as he called it. As far as he knew, her father had taken some sort of position that should've been Snotlout's over the last fifteen years and he had some sort of vendetta against the boy. The ins and outs of it escaped him but he knew that she hated Snotlout so Hookfang hated her.

Showing the unusual patience he'd developed over the last few weeks, Snotlout ignored her and instead focused on Fishlegs, who'd just arrived himself. Glancing around, the man smiled when he saw all his pupils present, "Excellent, you're all here." He clapped his hands together, "Right class, today we're going to do something a little different."

Some of the teens looked at each other and frowned thoughtfully until Fishlegs finished, "Today, you're going to ride each other's dragons."

There was a beat of silence which was broken by Peregrine, "Wait! Seriously!?"

Fishlegs simply nodded, "Seriously, knowing how to ride different dragons is vital, you can't guarantee that yours will be available in a crisis. Me and the other Original Riders practised with each other's dragons loads of times."

Hookfang remembered that, it had been something Hiccup had introduced after the whole Dragon Root debacle and it had proven most useful, as well as entertaining in some cases. It seemed Snotlout remembered too because he looked unsurprised and unconcerned while the others muttered and shuffled nervously. Fishlegs' voice caught their attention once more, "Now then, you'll spend today's lesson training alongside another dragon, I've decided the match-ups via lottery and the goal is to learn to understand another rider's dragon."

He pulled out some bits of parchment from his belt and read from them, "Firstly, Peregrine and Crushgrip."

The taller boy glanced at the Triple Stryke nervously as she eyed him critically.

"Snotlout and Silverwing."

Hookfang mentally sighed with relief, Silverwing was a pretty docile dragon and he was confident his rider would manage okay with the Razorwhip.

"Huginn and Cordillia."

The smaller boy shuffled uneasily as the Nadder gave a disgruntled snort.

"Fenja and Tinderclaw."

The girl and the Typhoomerang stared each other down, both well aware of the rivalry between Fenja and Peregrine.

"And finally, Maribelle and Hookfang."

Hookfang grunted in surprise as his temporary rider was confirmed and Snotlout glowered darkly. For her part, Maribelle looked disgusted and her feelings saturated her voice, "Really, I'm going to be stuck with _that_!?"

Hookfang immediately glowered exactly the same way as Snotlout but Fishlegs cut in before anymore protests could be made, "The pairings are not going to change and that is final!"

His tone brooked no arguments and Snotlout briefly patted Hookfang apologetically before stomping over to Silverwing, throwing dirty looks at Maribelle the whole way. Hookfang glanced at the girl unhappily, then the potential of the situation occurred to him and he grinned maliciously.

This could be fun.

* * *

Snotlout had spotted the evil glint in Hookfang's eye and he realised exactly what his dragon was planning.

This was what mellowed him a bit and prevented him from kicking up a huge fuss over Maribelle riding his dragon, he knew what was coming and he was looking forward to seeing it. He spotted Gobber and the others loitering subtlety in the corner and he had a suspicion that the 'lottery' may have been rigged, especially when Tuffnut gave him a grin and a thumbs up. He was certain that Fishlegs knew they were there, the man had glanced their way a couple of times and he must have spotted them. He also had this sly edge to his smile suggesting that he was also aware of what was about to happen.

He told them to take flight and Snotlout lightly gave Silverwing the signal, becoming pleasantly surprised when the Razorwhip responded happily. He was definitely different to ride than Hookfang, his movements were quicker and sharper, his turns tighter and his average speed greater. He also didn't need much in the way of direction but responded to how Snotlout positioned himself much more than Hookfang did, it took a fair bit of getting used to and he knew he'd never master flying him.

After a few light manoeuvres to get used to Silverwing, he glanced around to check on Hookfang just to find that the Nightmare hadn't even taken off yet.

* * *

"Get flying you stupid dragon!"

Hookfang yawned widely and slowly stretched his wings, ignoring Maribelle's insulting demands. He idly looked up towards the others and spotted Snotlout on Silverwing, he seemed to be doing just fine and he made a note to thank the Razorwhip later. He felt a hard kick in his neck and he snorted, it seemed this wretched girl was going to play rough, fair enough.

He flung his wings out and ascended into the air, making sure to make the ride as rough as possible. He was rewarded with a scream and he threw in a couple of barrel rolls just to keep things interesting. He levelled out and casually glided along, checking up on Snotlout again. Maribelle's annoying voice cut into his thoughts, "Stop this behaviour at once brute! I will not allow it!"

He gave another snort, _she_ wouldn't allow it? This girl really didn't understand him did she.

"Now, do as I say."

She gave him a kick to tell him to wheel left…so he went right.

"What are you doing? Not that way you dumb beast!"

She tried to make him straighten out, he wheeled left, then right, then made a tight turn and dived. She screeched at him to fly up and he did just that…right into a loop the loop before finally levelling out. Maribelle was livid and she berated him in rage, "You stupid, thick-headed runt of a dragon!"

How dare she call him a runt!

Without a second thought, he flicked his head and dislodged her, letting her fall for a moment before catching her in his claws.

Much better.

"HOW DARE YOU TREAT ME LIKE THIS YOU BEAST!"

Oh, seems he spoke too soon.

He deftly tossed her back onto his saddle and lit his fire coat.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO BURN ME ALIVE!"

Oh dear, was the fire too hot for her? This was his toasty heat he used when Snotlout got cold during a flight, he'd have thought the 'oh so perfect' Maribelle would've appreciated it. Guess he'll have to cool her off.

He wheeled sharply and dived down straight into the sea, he powered underwater for a moment or two before bursting back out into the sky.

"I'M FREEZING!"

Honestly, too hot, too cold! Was she never happy? Such a demanding little madam this one!

"TAKE ME BACK TO THE GROUND! RIGHT NOW!"

He gave an overexaggerated sigh.

Very well, your wish is my command, your Majesty.

Performing another roll, he folded his wings and plummeted from the sky. Receiving yet another piercing scream from his passenger. He snapped them open and landed with a thump, making sure to throw Maribelle off as he did so.

She landed hard in an undignified heap, right in front of Fishlegs and the other Original Riders, and shot upwards, her face a mask of absolute fury.

"You disgusting, insolent, good-for-nothing monster!"

Hookfang sauntered past her carelessly, 'accidently' sending her sprawling with his tail as he did so. Nearby, Tuffnut and Ruffnut were leaning on each other for support as they cackled with glee, Gobber was also chuckling away while Hiccup, Astrid and Fishlegs did their best to hide their own merriment. The Chief approached the wrathful girl, "Well Maribelle, I hope this teaches you that every dragon has its own quirks and personality. Hookfang in particular, doesn't take imperious commands, from _anyone_. He is rebellious and vindictive with it, as well as being protective of Snotlout." He smirked, "Just bear that in mind the next time you insult either of them, Hookfang certainly understands and will have revenge."

Hookfang snorted in agreement and gave her his smuggest smirk, Snotlout mirroring it beside him. She glared fiercely at them both before turning sharply and flouncing away, Cordillia doing the same along with her.

Hookfang watched them go with a self-satisfied expression as Snotlout showered him with fuss and attention.

Revenge was sweet.

* * *

 _ **PS-Yeah, Hookfang can be pretty vindictive when he wants to be. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to another chapter. This one is much shorter than usual and it looks at the Haddock household. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

Valka was holding her sides in merriment as Hiccup gave her a blow-by-blow account of Maribelle's ride on Hookfang.

"…and then he basically fell out of the sky and tossed her to the ground as he landed, I've never seen someone crash so elegantly!"

His mother wiped tears of mirth from her eyes, "And how did she respond to that?"

"She basically threw a pile of insults at him." Hiccup grinned, "Hookfang just ambled past like nothing had happened, then sent her sprawling one last time with his tail."

As Valka dissolved into more laughter, Astrid looked thoughtful, "You know, I do kind of feel bad for finding it so funny but she'd been asking for something like this for a long time. Though we probably shouldn't let them terrorise her too much."

Hiccup shrugged, "I don't think that'll happen. I doubt she'll want to ride Hookfang again anytime soon and it's not like Snotlout will let her. They both tend to avoid her when they can because he is well aware of how much trouble it could cause with Spinelout if they let it get too vicious."

His mother snorted, "Spinelout was a snotty little brat when he was still a child and he hasn't changed at all over the years, I don't know what the Jorgensons were thinking when they put him in charge of the clan."

"Unfortunately, they all like him." Hiccup pointed out, "Apart from the odd one or two members, the Jorgenson clan is completely behind him." He sighed, "Making him an absolute pain to deal with pretty much all the time."

Astrid idly began maintaining her axe as she posed a question, "Can't you somehow remove him from his position, since Snotlout is back and everything? He is Spitelout's actual heir after all."

"Yes and no." Hiccup rubbed his forehead tiredly, "I looked into it a while ago and apparently, Snotlout can replace Spinelout as head of the Jorgenson clan. However, due to some small print in Jorgenson traditions, he can't do that until he's twenty-one. Until he's of age a temporary leader has to take on the role since Spitelout is in no condition to do it himself anymore, therefore Spinelout remains in charge." He smiled a little, "Though the moment Snotlout becomes twenty-one, he automatically becomes clan head since he has the right of inheritance. You can bet Spinelout wasn't happy when I told him that."

Valka rolled her eyes, "Of course he wasn't."

"Which is probably exactly the reason why Maribelle hates him so much." Astrid added, "She thinks Snotlout is stealing the position from her father and her own status is in jeopardy."

"That's the gist of it." Hiccup answered.

They fell into silence for a while as Hiccup pondered over the Jorgenson clan, as he had done many times before.

Since Spitelout had become ill, the clan had become more difficult to deal with. The Jorgensons had always been a proud, opinionated and self-focused family, being descended from one of Berk's leading founders had only fuelled their egos and made them believe they were the best around, no matter the actual level of their skills. That being said, they'd always supported the village well and their egos had purely been an annoyance instead of an actual problem. Now though, their attitudes were genuinely causing many issues around the village, Spinelout was becoming louder and more demanding at council meetings, Jorgensons were interfering in village business as if to force things to go how they wanted them to and Maribelle seemed to be expecting everyone to bow to her whims as if she were some sort of princess.

So far, he'd dealt with the problems fairly well but he had developed a whole new appreciation for Spitelout. Yes, the man had been arrogant and prideful but Hiccup now understood just how much he kept the Jorgensons under control, you couldn't deny that the village as a whole always came before Spitelout himself. Spinelout on the other hand, seems to be too focused on himself and the position of the Jorgenson clan, giving them more room to try and expand their influence over Berk. Hiccup just hoped the upcoming tournament would help knock down some of their egos.

He turned to his mother, "Mom, how are preparations for the Summer Games going?"

Valka smiled, "Very well. Gobber's really pushing the arrangements along and Tuffnut has been pouring everything into making it a huge extravaganza." She tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Let's see, we've got most of the participants registered now and the age categories are set, we're still trying to work out the point system and finalise exactly how the events are actually going to run." She then snapped her fingers, "Oh yes, I meant to mention that Snotlout is signed up to compete!"

Hiccup blinked in surprise, "Really!" He frowned, "That's strange."

Astrid looked up at him, "Why's it strange? A competition like this is exactly the sort of thing he'd be taking part in."

"That might've been the case fifteen years ago but not now." His frown deepened, "Since waking up, he's moved himself further and further out of the spotlight and we think it's because he feels outdone by everybody. I don't know why he'd do something that would put so much attention on him when he lacks so much confidence at the moment."

Valka touched his hand lightly, "Maybe this is him trying to restore it, you've been trying to think of a way to help him for a while so isn't it good that he's entered himself?"

"I guess so…" He glanced at her, "What's he entered himself into?"

"Archery, both single and dragon back."

Hiccup gnawed his lip worriedly, "Archery, really?"

Valka nodded, "Yes." She raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Why is that so worrying?"

He glanced at Astrid, seeing that her worry matched his, before answering, "We've just never seen him use a bow before, we didn't even know if he could or not."

Astrid nodded slowly in agreement, "It just doesn't seem the sort of thing he'd do, he always appeared more interested in pure strength."

Valka shrugged, "Well, it's the only thing he's registered for so he must have some confidence in his skills. He's completely ignored the other events."

As Hiccup looked to his wife again, he could tell that she had similar concerns to him. What if Snotlout competed and then lost? It could damage his fragile confidence even more. They'd never actually seen him use a bow and had no idea of his skill level.

Hiccup wondered if he should try and talk the boy out of it.

* * *

 _ **PS-So Hiccup and Astrid have their concerns. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and sorry for the longer wait. We get some more interaction between Hiccup and Snotlout as the former considers what he found out last chapter. Thank you all for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

Making his way through the village was often slow for Hiccup.

Usually, he'd be held up by people with concerns, complaints, reports or who just wanted to chat and he did try to listen when he could. He had found that if he walked with purpose, most people recognised that he was needed elsewhere and didn't bother him but he avoided doing that when he could. Today seemed especially long because he was trying to find Snotlout.

Since his mother had mentioned the boy entering the archery events, he and Astrid had been concerned. They'd never seen him use a bow and they honestly didn't see it as his sort of event, they were worried about what would happen if he took part. Hiccup had been intending to speak to the boy about it and maybe convince him not to take part but he was proving difficult to find.

Winding his way through the crowded village square, he made his way to the forge and blinked in surprise when he saw Snotlout and Hookfang inside working on something.

* * *

"That should do it."

Snotlout placed the newly forged arrowhead alongside the others he'd created as Hookfang rumbled in agreement.

Though reusable, constant use of arrows wore down the heads and they needed replacing or re-forging regularly. With his increase in archery practise, he was running through his arrows far quicker than he used to, which often brought him to the forge to get new ones. It was such a regular occurrence that Gobber just let him make his own rather than have one of the forge assistants do it and Snotlout had started to experiment with his arrows.

In the past, he hadn't understood why Hiccup loved experimenting with ideas in the forge. Personally, he thought of it as a long and boring process and a waste of time that could've been spent on more 'Viking-like' things. Now though, he'd started to appreciate the idea and was kind of enjoying it.

There was a feeling of pride you got from having something that you'd put your own time and effort into creating, even if it was something as simple as an arrow. Also, since he had a custom bow and quiver, why not custom arrows to match? And since they were specifically designed for his bow, people would find them less effective if they tried to use them for their own, so there was a tactical angle as well. He'd played around with arrowhead shape and size, the length of shaft and the type of flights and had slowly created arrows which were all his own. Of course, the entire process was kind of endless but he didn't really mind, he had to make them all anyway so this experimentation kind of made it less of a chore, Gobber had even taken some of his designs and made note of them for future use, so he was even helping the village out a little bit at the same time.

Taking a stack of prepared shafts, Snotlout started the process of attaching the newly made heads. It took a long time but it was kind of relaxing and he'd done it so often now he could let his mind wander as he did it. Hookfang curled around him lazily, settling down for a nice nap as his rider worked, but suddenly looked up as Hiccup approached along with Toothless.

He rumbled respectfully at the Night Fury Alpha and Snotlout glanced up, "Oh! Hey Hic…I mean Chief."

Even though it had been several weeks since he awoke, he was still having trouble calling Hiccup by his title. Hiccup himself said he didn't mind but Snotlout was still trying to make it habit out of respect.

The chief spoke curiously, "You're making arrows?"

Snotlout smiled a little, "Yep." He held one he'd just finished up, "What do you think?"

Hiccup took the arrow and carefully examined it, raising an eyebrow in interest, "This is different from our usual ones."

"Well, I kind of designed them specifically for my bow."

He nodded to where his bow was sat nearby, next to the quiver, and Hiccup immediately went to examine it. He ran his hands over it and gently tested the string, nodding in approval. He turned back to the boy, "You made this yourself?"

Snotlout felt a bite of annoyance at the surprise in Hiccup's voice but pushed it aside, he hadn't exactly made a show of his skills so it was no wonder people wouldn't expect them to have them. He nodded, "My great-grandfather made the basic bow but I built upon it and added my own touches. The quiver I mostly made from scratch."

The chief shifted his focus to the quiver and gave an exclamation, "Hang on, that's the arrow-locking mechanism I created ages ago!"

The boy shifted guiltily, "Well, when I told Gobber I was making a quiver, he dug that out from storage. He said that even though it worked, not enough people practised archery enough to use it. He told me I could add it into the design and that you wouldn't mind."

Hiccup gave him a reassuring smile, "Don't worry, I don't mind. I was just surprised to see it, I'd thought that it would never catch on."

He gently picked up the quiver, examining it with a look of wonder on his face. Putting it back down, he spoke casually, "Are you using these in the tournament?"

This time, it was Snotlout who was surprised and Hiccup grinned, "Mom told me you'd entered."

Rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, the boy answered, "Well that explains it. Yeah, I think it said people could use their own weapons for the tournament, they just had to be checked over and approved first."

Hiccup bit his lip as if considering something and stood in silence for a while. He then lightly nodded and picked up the bow and quiver and handed them to the boy.

Snotlout took them and Hiccup smiled again, "Well, I hope you do well Snotlout." He grinned, "Though with such a fine bow, it'd be hard for you not to."

He briefly patted Snotlout on the shoulder and left the forge, saying goodbye as he went. The boy watched him go, slightly confused by his odd words but feeling strangely encouraged.

* * *

Resuming his work as chief, Hiccup smiled to himself.

He'd been trying to find Snotlout to talk him out of taking part in the tournament but instead he'd effectively encouraged him to win. Right up until he'd spoken to the boy, his intent had been the opposite of what he'd actually done but then he'd seen the bow.

Having worked in the forge for as long as he had, he had seen many weapons, including bows, and he could easily say that Snotlout's bow was one of the most impressive he'd ever seen. The boy's care and attention for the weapon shone throughout the entire design, his signature was all over it and it wasn't just the bow.

The quiver had also been very well crafted, his arrow-locking mechanism had been smoothly incorporated into the design and the pattern upon it was a prime example of real craftmanship. He'd never seen Snotlout craft anything remotely like it in his life but the sheer quality spoke to how much experience and skill the teen had, he must have kept it secret for years before he was frozen.

Finally, there were the arrows. Their design had been unique and quite impressive and the fact they were specifically designed for Snotlout's bow spoke volumes. The teen must have spent a long time testing each design, making minor changes and alterations to see how things went. Effective testing required a degree of skill with the bow so as to compare results which indicated that Snotlout was far more adept at archery than he'd let on.

Gobber had always said how you could value a warrior by the quality of their weapon, one with a well-cared for weapon was most likely well versed in its use, Astrid was a prime example. She was still one of the best warriors in the village and her axe was always kept in top condition. Snotlout's bow was equally as well tended and it was this that prevented Hiccup from stopping the boy from joining the tournament.

He was certain that Snotlout had far more skill than anyone thought and he wanted the boy to shine, especially when he was considered so behind everyone else. He had a feeling that Snotlout was going to put on a show they wouldn't forget and possibly smack down some overinflated egos in the process.

Hiccup couldn't wait to see it.

* * *

 _ **PS-So in the end, Hiccup didn't try and talk him out of it. I'm planning to do the tournament next chapter so please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to the next chapter. As promised, this one details tournament day and Snotlout's first public display of his archery skills. Thank you all for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

Berk's arena was packed to the brim.

The excitement for the Summer Games had spread like wildfire and every member of the tribe was present, as well as a few visitors. Vikings of all kinds filled out the stands and beyond, some even using their dragons to get a better view, and almost every one of Berk's clans had at least someone representing them. Of course, it was a competition between individuals but most clans would rally behind their members and all were aware of how their performance reflected upon their own clan. The only clan not represented was the Haddock clan but since it mostly consisted of Hiccup's family it wasn't that surprising, as such, they were acting as the neutral judges and referees for the tournament.

With the age range sitting at fifteen and above, both veterans and greenhorns would be competing together. Some could consider it unfair but most Vikings relished such a challenge and no one complained about it and besides, many young Vikings dreamed of besting their elders.

* * *

Gently pushing his way through the packed crowds, Eret made room for the elderly woman behind him.

Snotlout's grandmother shuffled along as quickly as she could, leaning on her grandson's arm for support, "Well this has turned into quite the big hullabaloo, hasn't it?"

The teen grinned, "Yeah, it really is something. I don't think this many turned up for Thawfest fifteen years ago."

"The village has grown in size over the years, I believe it's the biggest it's ever been in its history."

Eret called back, "Well, that's what several years of peace will do. There's been no major conflicts since Drago and the peace with the dragons means even less warring to stunt Berk's growth."

"Don't forget how our chief has managed to negotiate agreements with the other tribes." The older woman added, "The Archipelago hasn't been this united since…well…ever."

As they made their way through the throng in the stands, Snotlout glanced around, "So, see anywhere you want to sit Grandma?"

She pointed out a spot, "Over there, beside Gustav and his wife. Their little boy is just about the sweetest baby you'll ever meet, mini Gustav certainly takes far more after his mother than father."

"Wait! Gustav called his son Gustav?"

She smiled at her grandson's question, "Well, it was actually Heida's idea but yes, the lad has his father's name."

They pushed their way through to the couple and Gustav nodded in a friendly manner, "Hello, good to see you guys."

One of the things Snotlout was still trying to get his head round was how much Gustav had changed. He was much taller and had put on some serious muscle, he also was the commander of the Dragon Guard and everyone said he and Fanghook were second only to the Original Riders. Having seen them flying together first hand, Snotlout could believe it. With years of experience as leader of the A-Team and then the Dragon Guard, Gustav had matured considerably and become a respected, reliable member of the village, with his own group of fans made up of many of the young boys of Berk.

Though busy with his duties and with looking after his family, he'd been welcoming to Snotlout and the teen was slightly shocked by the kindness he'd been shown by someone he'd once put down upon.

Eret returned the greeting, "Good to see you too Gustav." He smiled at Gustav's wife, "Same to you Heida."

Snotlout's gran plonked herself down beside the mother and leaned over baby Gustav, "And how are you young sir?"

The baby gurgled and waved his arms and the elderly woman nodded understandingly, "Yes, I'm looking forward to the tournament as well."

Eret clapped Snotlout on the shoulder, "Don't you need to register your equipment?"

"Yeah, I should go and do that." He looked to his grandmother, "I'm probably going to get a bit more practice in before the archery starts. You okay here?"

She waved him away, "Of course, you just go and make sure you're all set for the event. Me and Eret will be cheering loudly for you from here."

With a quick grin, Snotlout hurried off.

* * *

It was Gobber who was in charge of inspecting participent's equipment, while Valka did a quick check up of each of the competing dragons. Having entered both normal and dragonback archery, Snotlout had to see both of them.

Having seen Gobber first, he made his way to Valka's section along with Hookfang.

The queue was long since so many people were entering but he didn't mind the wait too much. Around him, people chatted excitedly or hurried past to get a good seat, a little way off, some men had already opened a barrel of mead and were swigging it away jovially, their faces already slightly red. There was a practice ground set up nearby and he could see competitors working away, trying to squeeze a little more training or simply getting themselves warmed up. There was a distinct lack of archers but he knew that those events were probably the least popular at of all of them.

From what he knew, most people signed up to the archery events were older, seasoned warriors, making him the youngest by quite some margin. There were also very few of them, including him, there were only four in both events, making them the smallest events there. He was also the only one who was only signed up for the archery events, most saw it a minor skill and were simply taking part simply because they could rather than seriously competing.

In essence, this made him probably the biggest oddity in the entire tournament and word had spread.

Each competitor knew who else was taking part in their events and it hadn't taken long for people to notice that he was only entered in for archery. This had caused a ripple of speculation through the village, no one had seen him use a bow before and most didn't even know he could. Once you added his work on his bow, quiver and arrows to the mix, people started to take more notice and suddenly, the archery events gained a surge of interest, purely because they were curious to see how he did.

As he waited to be seen by Valka, he could see nearby people pointing and looking at him, commenting quietly on his equipment to their neighbours. It was obvious that what he was using was unique and people started to linger nearby, trying to learn more.

Eventually, Valka waved him over.

As Hookfang remained still, she ran her hands over him, commenting as she did so, "Well Snotlout, Hookfang certainly is fit and healthy and in peak condition too." She rubbed some of his gel between her fingers, "His gel seems especially good, it looks like some of the highest quality I've ever seen and there's more of it than normal."

Snotlout scratched his head, "Really, it's the same amount he's always had."

She frowned, "Interesting." She examined him closer, "While he is physically weaker than most other Nightmares, it seems his firepower might actually be much stronger, especially if he produces this much high-quality gel all the time." She shook her head, "But I can look into that later. In terms of today he's more than well enough to take part." She smiled at him, "Good luck out there."

Hookfang briefly nuzzled her in thanks then sauntered over to Snotlout and lightly butted him towards the training field. Snotlout grumbled in annoyance, "Hookfang! I was planning on going there anyway." He called back as his dragon continued to forcefully nudge him onwards, "Thank you...okay, okay, I'm going already, stop butting me! Pushy dragon."

Valka chuckled at them before turning her attention to the next dragon.

* * *

The tournament was proving to be an excellent success and Hiccup watched it all from the Chief's chair.

All the events had seen large turnouts with many people competing in them and they'd all been hard fought. For him, the axe events had been particularly entertaining, partly because he had Astrid next to him criticising every single person's form and skill, it only got funnier when his son started giving his opinion as well, little Stoick had high expectations just like his mother.

About halfway through, Gobber approached him.

Hiccup smiled at his former mentor, "Hey Gobber, how's everything going behind the scenes?"

The blacksmith waved his hand dismissively, "Just fine, Valka's got everything well under control and running smoothly." He then frowned, "Well, a couple of the Jorgensons tried to kick up a fuss but yer mother shut them up pretty quick."

Hiccup simply nodded, he'd expected a little trouble from the Jorgensons but he knew his mother could handle them easily, she was Spitelout's brother after all. If Gobber wasn't concerned then it was likely nothing beyond their normal trouble, it hadn't caused any visible issues anyway.

"How's Snotlout?"

It was Astrid who'd asked and Gobber and Hiccup shared small smiles at the concern in her voice before the older man answered, "He's just fine, he's been practising with that bow of his in preparation for the archery events." He shook his head fondly, "And I have to say it, that bow he's made is something else, not to mention the quiver and arrows. He's really worked hard on them and I might go as far to say as they're some of the best bits of archery equipment I've seen."

Hiccup grinned, "You can say that again. Apparently, the bow was actually made by his great-grandfather, he just added and altered it."

Gobber nodded sagely, "Now that explains it, his great-grandfather was one of the best archers Berk had ever seen, not that many people cared unfortunately."

"Maybe Snotlout's inherited his skills."

Gobber grinned at Hiccup's words, "Maybe…"

Astrid eyed him suspiciously, "You know for certain, don't you?"

The blacksmith shrugged, "Well. I might've sneaked a peak at him practising before coming to see ye."

"How good is he?"

He smiled mysteriously at Astrid's question, "Wasn't really there long enough to say but it'll be well wort hanging around to watch."

"Gobber…"

He began sauntering away, "Sorry, I've got to see how things are going, see ye later."

"Get back here!"

Hiccup laughed at his wife, "Calm down milady, we'll see how good Snotlout is for ourselves soon enough."

* * *

The Summer Games were drawing to a close, with only the archery events left.

As the least popular events, they'd been slotted in at the end where most people, due to tiredness or other reasons, would want to leave. Normally, people would start to leave so as to get ready for the celebratory feast in the Great Hall but unusually, almost everyone was staying to watch.

In the stands, Eret was sat with Snotlout's grandmother watching as helpers prepared the arena for the event. The elderly woman rubbed her hands in excitement, "Here we go. I've been waiting all day to see this."

Above the arena, sitting behind a Thunder Ear, Fishlegs and Tuffnut were commentating on the events and the Ingerman's voice rang out as the last helper scurried out of the arena, "Ladies and Gentlemen, we're just about to start the last set of events of this year's Summer Games…Archery!"

There were cheers and roars from the crowd and Tuffnut spoke next, "And here come the competitors! First up…the wildest warrior upon the seas…HORGRUNN INGERMAN!"

The Ingermans roared loudly as one of their senior warriors strode confidently into the arena, he held quite the reputation upon Berk and had already done well in several other events.

Fishlegs introduced the next competitor, "And second…we have the tricky, twister…TORNUTT THORSTON!"

The Thorston clan screamed their lungs out as a thin, gangly limbed man ran in, he was known to be quick and hard to read in combat and had held his own in the Sword Fighting event.

Tuffnut took the next one, "Thirdly…we have the swift, swordsman of the warrior clan, and favourite to win these events…AGAR HOFFERSON!"

The Hoffersons went wild as one of their finest representatives bounded in to join his fellows, he'd dominated the sword and axe events and most knew his archery was fairly decent.

The cheers lasted longer, forcing Fishlegs to yell above them, "And finally…he's the one who was frozen for fifteen years and is the surprise competitor of these events…SNOTLOUT JORGENSON!"

Eret was forced to duck as Snotlout's grandmother leapt to her feet, swinging her arms like crazy and yelling louder than anyone, "GO GET THEM GRANDSON!"

Walking steadily out, Snotlout grinned up at her and waved in response before standing next to the others. Even as he added his cheers to the noise, Eret noticed that Snotlout's support was distinctly more subdued when compared with the others, especially with regards to his own clan members. As the teen stood next to his competition, it was revealed that he was only half their height and the age difference was very obvious.

Fishlegs ran over the rules, "Now, in the Normal Archery, the competitors will shoot from behind a set line at the targets before them. Each target is shaped like a person and the archer has to call out which section of the target he will hit, they are limited to three arrows and their score will be decided by the judges. Scoring will depend on whether they hit their declared target, how difficult said target was to hit and how far behind the line they fired from. They have one target each and the scores will not be revealed until each person has shot."

Tuffnut spoke next, "Without further ado…let the archery carnage…BEGIN!"

The crowd laughed at Tuffnut's overdramatic words as the first shooter stepped up.

"And Horgrunn is first up, choosing to fire from just behind the line. Possibly a tactical choice if he's after a difficult set of shots."

The Ingerman held up his bow, "Two hands and a head!"

The crowd oohed at his choice as Tuffnut commented, "It seems you were right, Fishlegs my friend."

"Indeed, with the way the target's hands are held out to the side of the body, they are far narrower and more difficult to hit. Opting to be as close as possible will work in Horgrunn's favour."

The crowd hushed as Horgrunn prepared to fire.

THUNK!

He hit the first hand dead centre.

THUNK!

The second hand received an arrow to the thumb.

THUNK!

The last arrow embedded itself in the target's head.

The crowd cheered as Horgrunn nodded in satisfaction, pleased with the result. Fishlegs' voice sounded out, "And he's done it! That'll probably elicit a good score from the judges so he did well."

"Indeed, he did." Tuffnut responded, "He may not get any extra points since he shot from the line, but it was a good three arrows he fired. Let's see if our next archer can top it."

From there, the event continued with each competitor keeping close scores. Tornutt managed to hit the head twice and the heart from two paces behind the line and Agarr managed two hands and a heart from three paces back, leaving only Snotlout to shoot.

"And finally, we have our youngest archer. Like the others, Snotlout is using his own bow and arrows, though they appear to be markedly different from Berk's normal designs."

Fishlegs took up Tuffnut's explanation, "It seems that the bow was actually created by his great-grandfather, who was a gifted archer, and Snotlout has altered and worked upon the original design himself. The quiver and his arrows are all his own creation."

"And must I say…that quiver certainly looks impressive. Those colours and that design just work!"

"The quiver also boasts a unique arrow-locking mechanism designed by our own chief some time ago, holding the arrows in securely while allowing easy drawing."

As they spoke, Snotlout took his position, a good ten paces behind the line.

Eret frowned, "Isn't he a bit far back?"

Snotlout's grandmother simply smirked, "Not at all, I'm sure he could shoot from even further back if he wanted to. Just watch."

Snotlout held up his bow, "Two eyes and the right hand!"

The crowd gasped in surprise, which was mirrored in Tuffnut's voice, "And he's just called two eyes, no one has ever declared such a target before!"

"He seems to be really kicking up the heat in this event, let's see if he can pull it off."

The crowd fell into a deathly hush, waiting with bated breath to see if the teen could deliver upon his claim.

THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!

In rapid succession, three arrows embeded themselves in the target, one in each eye and one right in the centre of the right hand. There was a delay as everyone took time to realise what happened until the boy's grandmother leapt to her feet wildly, "THAT'S MY GRANDSON!"

As the rest of the crowd roared and whooped, Fishlegs bellowed above them, "And he's done it! What a series of shots! Even without knowing the final scores I think it's clear who the winner is!"

Tuffnut's voice was filled with amazement, "No kidding! Pulling off such a difficult set of shots from ten paces back means instant victory for Snotlout. Looks like the rest will have to watch out in the Dragonback Archery!"

Even as he stood applauding Snotlout's fine shooting, Eret was shaking his head in amazement.

Snotlout was in a class of his own.

* * *

 _ **PS-Unfortunately the chapter was starting to run long so the Dragonback Archery will be detailed in the next one. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello all and welcome to the second part of the archery events. This time we have Dragonback Archery though we also get a peek at the celebratory feast afterwards. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

Despite expecting Snotlout to pull off something like this, Hiccup was stunned.

Beside him, Astrid was openly gaping in shock while their son was clapping with glee, he looked up at his mother, "Mummy, he's really good!"

The woman slowly nodded, "Yes, it seems he is."

Hiccup gave a small laugh, "I'm definitely glad I didn't try to talk him out of this. After seeing that performance I almost feel like I was insulting him by even considering it."

She glanced at him, "How in Thor's name did we never realise he was this good?"

He shrugged, "It never came up and we were never in a position where we needed archery, we probably wouldn't have believed him if he told us anyway."

Her stunned face morphed into a frown, "You're right, we wouldn't have believed him."

The chief grinned, "Can't wait to see the Dragonback Archery, I bet he's going to completely dominate it."

* * *

Down next to the arena, Snotlout was checking over Hookfang's saddle as they set up the Dragonback Archery.

He was still feeling the rush from his victory in the last event but he was forcefully holding himself back from getting too cocky. Fifteen years ago, he'd have rubbed his win in everyone's face and soaked in the glory but things had changed. Having spent the last few weeks being on the receiving end of such things, the appeal of that kind of reaction had drastically faded. That, and the fact that his fellow competitors were all seasoned and powerful warriors as well as his elders, they deserved respect.

Hookfang rumbled and his rider grinned, "You got it Hooky, you're all pumped up for this as well."

The Nightmare grunted in agreement and Snotlout laughed in response until a voice interrupted them, "Snotlout!"

The boy glanced around and saw Eret heading his way, the man smiled, "That was incredible!"

The teen shuffled awkwardly, unused to genuine praise, "Yeah, I guess so, but the others were pretty good as well."

The man raised an eyebrow, "Well this is interesting, Hiccup and the others said that modesty didn't used to be your thing."

Snotlout grimaced, "Yeah, well…it didn't, but I kind of got a big wakeup call when I was frozen for fifteen years."

Eret clapped him heartily on the back, "Well your grandmother is over the moon, she's bragging about you enough for ten people so bring it home in the Dragonback Archery and you'll really make her day."

The teen grinned, "That's what I intend to do."

The man pulled him into a friendly headlock and mussed up his hair, "That's the spirit lad! Go out there and win it!"

"Okay, okay, I got it. Let me go already!"

Eret released him and nodded at the grinning teen, "Good luck out there."

"Thanks."

* * *

"And now, it's time for the Dragonback Archery!"

There was a huge roar from the crowd at Fishlegs' announcement and Tuffnut spoke over it, "And after that dramatic performance in the Normal Archery, I'm betting everyone is eager to see even more action."

"Indeed Tuffnut, this is probably the most exciting archery events we've seen in a long time."

"So, let's welcome the competitors! First up…HORGRUNN AND WHALEBANE!"

The Ingerman entered the ring, atop a formidable Thunderdrum who gave forth a roar that shook the arena.

"And second, we have…TORNUTT AND SPINETWISTER!"

The Thorston arrived, riding a Deadly Nadder who spun spectacularly, sending spines digging into the walls all around the arena.

"Thirdly its…AGAR AND STRIKER!"

The Hofferson swooped in upon a Hobblegrunt, the dragon pulling several acrobatic moves before landing perfectly.

"And finally, the dark horse of the last event and his Monstrous Nightmare partner…SNOTLOUT AND HOOKFANG!"

This time, the cheers were far louder than before as the pair entered the arena, Snotlout sat proudly upon Hookfang who'd lit his fire coat which seemed to burn brighter than that of any other Nightmare. The dragon strode towards the others, still aflame, and several people gasped in awe until he finally let the fires die.

When the cheers finally quieted down, Fishlegs explained the rules, "Now, in the Dragonback Archery, the competitors must fly their dragons through a set course, aiming at the targets along the way. There are friendly and enemy targets so the competitors must identify between the two, hitting an enemy will gain points while hitting a friendly will lose points, completing the course quickly will also net you more points. They cannot double back on the route nor can their dragons use their own firepower to hit the targets, the competitor with the best score will win the event."

"So, it's very similar to Thawfest's Fly and Shoot event." Tuffnut pointed out.

"That's right." Fishlegs responded, "Though with the obvious difference that it's the Viking taking down the targets, not the dragon. However, synchronisation with your dragon is still important, you have to both concentrate on how they're flying and your own archery, a degree of trust between you is vital."

"And first to take on this challenge is Horgrunn and Whalebane!"

* * *

As the event continued, it became clear that it was very different from normal archery.

As Fishlegs said, trust between you and your dragon was important, you had to believe that your dragon would fly the course well while you focused on hitting the targets. To add to the difficulties, the fact that your dragon is constantly moving made hitting your target harder and required more focus, especially if you were trying to complete the course quickly.

These challenges became obvious as the competitors took their turns.

While none of them were bad, this sort of thing was not their strongest event and it was clear that it was far more difficult for them than the normal archery. Horgrunn missed several of the targets but his Thunderdrum handled the course well. Tornutt and Spinetwister cleared the course quickly but he also missed several targets. Agar hit all enemy targets but he also took out a couple of friendly ones, thus cutting down his score.

Finally, it was Snotlout's turn.

"And now, here come the last competitors of the day…Snotlout and Hookfang!"

Cheers roared at Tuffnut's declaration and Fishlegs responded, "And it looks like the crowd have been waiting for this one. Snotlout dominated in the Normal Archery with an unbeatable score, will he and Hookfang continue this domination in a markedly more difficult event?"

"As one of Berk's authorities on dragons, what do you think are the chances of winning for this partnership?"

"Well Tuffnut, in comparison to most, Snotlout and Hookfang's partnership is still very young. Technically speaking, they've only been working together for several months whereas most of Berk have been bonded with a dragon for years. That being said, those months did include many actual missions alongside the Original Riders and conflicts with wild dragons, Outcasts and Berserkers. These kinds of things are something most of his peers have never even come close to encountering themselves before and going through such things does often cause bonds to become stronger quicker. Also, if I learned anything in the days when I flew with him and the Original Riders before he was frozen, it's that Hookfang and Snotlout can surprise you."

While he'd been speaking, Snotlout and Hookfang had positioned themselves on the start line and they signalled that they were ready to go. Tuffnut called the start of their run.

"On you marks…get set…GO!"

Like a shot, Hookfang launched himself into the air as Fishlegs began the commentating, "And they're off! And look at Hookfang go!"

"Indeed, my dear Fishlegs, it seems that Hookfang packs quite some speed."

"You said it Tuffnut, while he may have less physical power than most Nightmares, his speed certainly seems far superior."

"But let's see if Snotlout's archery skills can keep up."

The Nightmare blazed through the course and Snotlout pretty much left him to it as he focused on the targets, one after another they fell to his arrows and Fishlegs and Tuffnut's voices were practically shrill with excitement.

"And there goes another one, and another! Snotlout is wasting no time in hitting those targets!"

"I'll say, and it looks like he's completely trusting Hookfang to fly the course on his own, now that's the sign of a strong bond!"

"You said it! And despite the speed of his shots, he's yet to hit a single friendly!"

In rapid time, Hookfang cleared the course and he landed on the finish line with a mighty roar.

"And they're done! What a run from Snotlout and Hookfang!"

"Indeed Tuffnut, while it seems that Tornutt's run was faster, Snotlout has hit every single enemy and not a single friendly, that was a performance and a half!"

"Now we're just waiting on the judges' decision…oh…here we are!"

There was a pause as the whole crowd silenced in anticipation until Fishlegs finally spoke.

"And the winners of the Dragonback Archery are…SNOTLOUT AND HOOKFANG!"

Snotlout leapt up and punched the air as Hookfang roared in delight, around them the crowd went wild as Snotlout's grandmother danced on her seat, her voice ringing out above the crowd, "ATTA BOY SNOTLOUT! THAT'S THE WAY TO DO IT!"

Hiccup and Astrid were standing on their feet applauding furiously and Snotlout held his bow victoriously in the air, Hookfang roared in triumph and fired a celebratory jet of flame into the air, causing the crowd to cheer more. From his position in the stands, Eret grinned.

"Way to go kid, way to go."

* * *

That night, the Great Hall was bursting at the seams as all attended the celebratory feast.

It was at the feast that the winners were given their awards so it was awhile before the actual party started due to the awards ceremony. Many clans had done well for themselves over the course of the day and more than a few friendly brags were flung between them while Snotlout had found himself slightly overwhelmed by people's reception of him at the feast.

He'd always thought that if people discovered his skill with archery they'd consider him weak, however, he'd found himself swamped by people wanting to congratulate him on his performance that day. It seemed, that while not the most popular skill, people truly appreciated his talent for archery. The response from the Original Riders also surprised him slightly. Ruffnut had hugged him so hard he'd nearly suffocated and Fishlegs' hug had nearly crushed his ribs, Tuffnut had shaken him by the shoulders in excitement and had actually been in tears (though he resolutely denied it) while Astrid and Hiccup had patted him on the shoulder, a look of pride in their eyes.

It was the sort of reactions he'd never really experienced before and he had to admit he liked them.

His grandmother of course was gushing praise about him to anyone who'd listen while Eret gave him a grin that reminded him of the one his dad used to give him when he won Thawfest. The warmth he felt inside at this caused him to grin like crazy and he was the happiest he'd been since he'd woken up several weeks ago.

Then, Spinelout appeared.

Snotlout had been enjoying the feast to the full, listening avidly to the exploits of other competitors that day, when someone clapped a hand on his shoulder and he glanced round to see the head of the Jorgenson clan.

Up until that moment, he hadn't really seen Spinelout that much. Partly because he was deliberately avoiding him but also because the Jorgenson clan hadn't seemed to pay much attention to their returned member. Even before he was frozen, Spinelout hadn't liked him and the teen had been well aware of that fact, he'd been expecting the man to treat him with disdain when they finally met face to face but it seemed that the man was actually smiling.

"Snotlout, that was some win you pulled out today. Congratulations."

Snotlout eyed him suspiciously, feeling that something more was going on, "Thank you."

The man put his arm around his shoulders but whereas the teen liked it when Eret or Hiccup did it, he squirmed uncomfortably now, sensing that the friendly gesture was actually just an act. Spinelout grinned at those around him, "He's quite the boy, isn't he? Probably the best archer since his great-grandfather." He smiled down at the teen, "You're showing them how good we Jorgensons are."

At his words, Snotlout scowled, knowing exactly what Spinelout was up to. The man was trying to claim his win as something the Jorgenson clan shared. In the past, Snotlout might've relished such a thing but his connection to his clan had greatly diminished. Ever since he'd returned, the Jorgensons had largely brushed him aside. Maribelle had treated him with scorn and the others had either ignored him or were among those who'd thought of him as an embarrassment or lesser being. Spinelout himself had probably been the most vocal about calling him a failure and he was certain the man encouraged his daughter to treat him like dirt. He was also aware of how the clan was pushing for power within the tribe, trying to claim authority and causing trouble, and he didn't like it. As far as he was concerned, Berk was doing brilliantly as it was and Hiccup was leading well, it didn't need Spinelout and the others sticking their oar in for their own selfish reasons but that was exactly what they were doing. His father had been proud but he'd learned which lines weren't to be crossed, Spinelout hadn't or just didn't care and he wasn't going to give the man access to nor credit for his win.

Snotlout shoved Spinelout's arm off and stepped away, "No, I showed them how good _I_ am."

While a selfish sounding statement, the teen felt he had the right to say it. He was the one that trained for today, he was the one that did the work, he was the one that went out and scored the points, the Jorgensons had done nothing to help him get there and if anyone deserved a share of the credit it was his grandmother.

Spinelout's smile faltered briefly, "But you took part for your clan of course."

"I took part for myself and Grandma, who was the one that encouraged me to do it in the first place."

As he glowered at the clan head, the people around them started to go quiet, sensing the building tension. Spinelout frowned, "But you're a Jorgenson."

"So" Snotlout stared back unflinchingly, "The Summer Games was a competition of individuals, not clans. Why should the Jorgenson clan claim a share of my victory? It wasn't like you did anything to help me out."

The man glowered back, "We were the ones who trained you."

"No, Dad was the one who trained me and I was the one that continued that training to get to where I am today. My great-grandfather was the one who made my bow and my grandmother was the one who gave it to me. Hiccup and the Original Riders helped me and Hookfang work well together and they and Eret were the ones who helped me readjust to being back. Those are the people who can share in the credit for my win, not the Jorgensons."

Spinelout snarled, "We're your clan!"

"Yet you've done nothing but belittle and insult me ever since I un-froze!" Snotlout glared up at him viciously, "I may be a Jorgenson but that is where your connection to me ends!"

Spinelout stepped towards him menacingly, "I am your clan head!"

"You're not even a blood descendent of Jorgen!"

At Snotlout's declaration, the man stopped dead, unable to find an answer.

Though a large clan, many Jorgensons actually had either a distant or no blood connection to the clan founder, Jorgen himself. The only direct descendants of Jorgen were Spitelout, Snotlout, Valka, Hiccup and Hiccup's son, Stoick. Of course, over half of these descendants were members of the Haddock clan leaving Spitelout and Snotlout as the only two still in the Jorgenson clan. This blood connection was the reason Spitelout had been clan head and the reason Snotlout was his heir. With Spitelout's illness and Snotlout's fifteen-year disappearance, viable blood heirs had vanished so the clan voted upon a new clan head, thus choosing Spinelout. In normal circumstances, Spinelout was too distant from the bloodline to even be considered since he basically had none of Jorgen's blood, a fact he didn't like to be reminded of.

The two of them locked gazes for a long time until Spinelout turned and stormed off in a huff.

"Well that certainly took the wind out of his sails."

Snotlout turned to see Eret standing beside him, the man grinned at him, "Nice one."

Tuffnut had also appeared and he gestured dramatically, "Oh what drama! The false head of the clan verbally outmanoeuvred by our plucky young heir."

As he spoke, the people who'd stopped to watch the altercation returned to partying, many laughing about how Snotlout had repelled Spinelout. His grandmother joined him, "I'm proud you stood up for yourself lad but watch him, you know how he hates to be denied like that."

The boy frowned worriedly, "I know."

Eret clapped a hand on his shoulder, "We can handle anything Spinelout tries to pull, remember that Hiccup is always on his case and he's not exactly popular with anyone who isn't a Jorgenson. There isn't much he can do even if he wanted to." He grinned, "Just relax and enjoy the rest of the feast."

Tuffnut clapped his hand on Snotlout's other shoulder, "Indeed young Snotlout, that vile pretender will one day receive his comeuppance, let us eat, drink and be merry in celebration of your great victory!"

With a laugh, Snotlout let them guide him back to enjoying the feast.

* * *

 _ **PS-So a bit of family drama for Snotlout there. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello all and welcome. This chapter moves onto the next 'arc' as it were, as well as showing a bit more of the roots of future chapters. Thank you all for your continued support and I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

Striding jauntily through the village, Snotlout headed for his father's house.

It had been a couple of days since his victory in the archery at the Summer Games and things had improved for him. Many people were still discussing his skill with a bow and had been most impressed, already they were saying he could be the best bowman on Berk and he was finding it very difficult to not let it go to his head. The fact that he was still outclassed in other skills helped with this and acted as a good reminder of how he could still improve, however, it was no longer a case of him being worse than everybody else, he just didn't have their skills.

His revealed skill also caused a bit of a surge in people practicing archery. With Vikings being Vikings, some of the younger teens had set a goal of being as good as or better than him and were practicing the skill beyond their basic lessons. Older warriors had also begun brushing up on their bowmanship (especially those he'd beaten) and it now wasn't unusual to see one or two people practicing on targets when they got a chance. Of course, he'd continued his own training and had no intention of relinquishing his spot as top archer without a fight but the fact people were taking him seriously was great. Unfortunately, his small rant at Spinelout during the feast had caused many Jorgensons to become even colder towards him but he knew that was going to happen, he just let them be and ignored them.

With the events of the Summer Games, he hadn't visited his father for a while so he was on his way to do just that.

He reached the house and entered happily (Mrs Thorston had said he could just come in without knocking), eager to tell his father all about his achievements in the games. He was well aware that his dad might not even hear or register what he said but he thought that maybe hearing about the competition might cause his father to finally recognise him.

His happy mood rapidly evaporated when he saw Mrs Thorston and Gothi just outside his dad's closed door, in the middle of a serious discussion (well…Gothi was writing on the floor).

They both looked his way as he entered and expressions of both fear and pity crossed their faces. He glanced between them, worry rapidly building in his gut, "Has something happened?"

The two women looked at each other briefly and Gothi nodded, Mrs Thorston turned her eyes back to him and sighed, "I'm sorry Snotlout, but afraid it isn't good news."

* * *

Hiccup was having one of his rare moments where he was almost considering letting Toothless roast someone alive.

It was a council meeting and while they weren't usually the most enthralling or laid-back things, this one was particularly infuriating or rather, one member was being particularly infuriating.

Spinelout.

He was disagreeing and arguing against everything they were discussing or putting forward and really making things difficult. Now, fifteen years ago, Snotlout had been prone to arguing but he usually agreed if it was actually something he was happy with, Hiccup usually picked the choice the boy didn't like, hence the arguing. Spitelout, when he'd been on the council, had also often argued against his ideas but Hiccup had got the feeling it was actually the man's way of trying to help him be a better chief, by giving challenges and forcing him to be firm and assertive. Spinelout however, seemed to be arguing just for the sake of arguing or to try and undermine his authority.

Hiccup had long since realised that the man wanted more power in the tribe for both himself and his clan and had done what he could to block the Jorgenson's attempts. However, it seemed that Spinelout has started to push harder and Hiccup was certain it was because of the way Snotlout stood up to him at the feast.

While Hiccup was fully behind the boy it did cause a slight shift in things.

With Snotlout's return, he was now heir to the Jorgenson clan, making Spinelout something of a steward until the teen hit twenty-one. This had altered everything since Spinelout went from full clan head to temporary clan head, placing his position in jeopardy. He now had a limited timeframe in which to push for power for his clan and when Snotlout took over, he'd lose his seat on the council and the position it brought. This was the reason for the Jorgensons' treatment of Snotlout, they liked Spinelout and his attempts to increase their influence over Berk and they were certain that Snotlout wouldn't continue them. Perhaps they thought that continually putting him down would cause him to give up his birth right. Then Snotlout basically stated that he had no connection to most of his clan except for his name, effectively confirming that his intentions were not the same as Spinelout's at all.

And it was the topic of Snotlout's birth right that the man was arguing so intently against.

"It's not going to change Spinelout. Snotlout is Spitelout's heir and blood descendent of Jorgen, he is the Jorgenson's future clan head by your clan's own traditions!"

Spinelout scowled at Hiccup's words, "But he has all but stated that he wants no connection with my clan whatsoever!"

"And perhaps that is exactly what he needs to do!" Agar Hofferson folded his arms, "It remains a fact that he is one of very few that actually has Jorgen's blood, the rest of your clan are, truthfully, very distant from your clan founder. Possibly in more ways than one."

"And what do you mean by that!" Spinelout slammed his hand down aggressively.

"He means that you're distant from Jorgen in your attitudes as well." The man snapped his gaze upon Fishlegs but the Ingerman kept his cool and continued in a level voice, "From what we've discovered in researching Jorgen over the years, the morals and goals of the Jorgenson clan are very different from Jorgen's morals and goals, and not in a good way. At the moment, Snotlout is rapidly becoming more like his ancestor in terms of how he acts and responds, I think that'll make him a positive influence upon your clan."

"Well I certainly agree with that one." Gobber added, "Ever since he returned, the lad's become much more aware of how his actions affect things and how to take responsibility, I'd say that's a pretty good sign of how he's going to be."

"But he's…"

"That's enough Spinelout!" Hiccup's stern voice cut across the man's words and the chief fixed the Jorgenson with a steady gaze, "Many people have said how much better Snotlout has been ever since he returned, in fact, he's already a far cry from the irresponsible, arrogant person he was fifteen years ago. There is nothing against him that will prevent him from claiming his birth right so he will become head of the Jorgenson clan when he turns twenty-one."

In the silence that followed his words, he glanced around the table, "Now, this meeting has already lasted far longer than it should've done so if there is no other business to discuss we can finish."

Nothing else was said so he spoke with a voice of finality, "Good, meeting adjourned."

Spinelout shot to his feet and stomped out of the hall while the rest rolled their eyes and followed at a more reasonable pace, muttering about him as they did so. Soon, it was just Hiccup, Fishlegs and Gobber left and the chief slumped in his seat with a sigh, "Well, that was a battle and a half."

Gobber patted his shoulder consolingly, "Don't let Spinelout get to you, he's just a thick-headed Jorgenson."

"But he does seem to be getting worse." Fishlegs said worriedly, "If it keeps up like this, he might try something a bit more extreme to get his way."

Hiccup pinched the bridge of his nose, "That's what I'm concerned about. Snotlout won't be twenty-one anytime soon, leaving Spinelout as clan head, and the Jorgensons are getting more pushy and difficult as time goes by. Ever since Spitelout became sick, they've slowly gotten worse and worse."

Fishlegs frowned, "I guess we never really appreciated how well he kept them in check."

Gobber nodded sagely, "Aye, he kept them well reigned in. For all his faults, Spitelout would never deliberately do something he knew would harm Berk as a whole, I'm not so sure about Spinelout though."

Hiccup sighed, "I fear what will happen when we finally lose Spitelout."

* * *

Mrs Thorston and told Snotlout everything Gothi had told her, that what the ancient healer had feared had finally happened.

Spitelout had deteriorated dramatically.

Gothi had always said that it would happen at some point, Spitelout wasn't going to get better and eventually the illness was going to win, she just didn't know when it would happen. The man had gone from being reasonably stable to almost comatose, only waking very occasionally and not for very long. It was the beginning of the end and it was now only a matter of time before he left for Valhalla.

Snotlout sat at his father's bedside, not sure what to do.

Just when everything seemed to be looking up again, this happened and despite the illogic of it, he couldn't help but feel guilty about not being there when it did. While he'd hated seeing his father so blank and unlike himself, at least he'd been awake and likely to still be living the next day. Now though, there was a chance he could slip away at any time.

Tentatively, Snotlout rested his head on his father's bed, speaking quietly, "I don't want you to go dad."

* * *

Much, much later that night, Eret gently knocked on the door to the house.

Mrs Thorston softly opened it and gave him a sad smile, "I was just about to send for you."

He padded past her into the house as she kept speaking quietly, "He's just in with his father. The poor boy didn't want to leave and fell asleep right where he was. I didn't want to wake him but I think its best if he goes home and sleeps in a proper bed."

Eret nodded at the bedroom door sadly, "I'm not surprised, it's got to be difficult for him now."

She glanced at the closed door, "It's just the way it happened right at the worst possible time, Snotlout has only really just readjusted and started doing well."

The man smiled, "He'll pull through." He frowned sadly, "Though he'll probably be here right till the end."

The woman closed her eyes, "I know."

She slowly pushed the bedroom door open and Eret tiptoed through to find Snotlout sound asleep at his father's bedside. Carefully, he lifted the boy into his arms, trying his best not to wake him and shuffled back out the room. The teen stirred and shifted about but didn't wake and Eret was glad he had enough strength to manage the boy's weight.

Mrs Thorston looked into the room thoughtfully, "Its big enough for us to put another bed in tomorrow, that way Snotlout won't have to leave his father's side if he doesn't want to."

"I'll speak to Hiccup about it first thing." Eret glanced down at the teen in his arms, "But for now, I should take him back home."

With a nod of silent thanks, he carefully left the house and headed back towards home. He looked down at the boy in his arms, whose face was filled with sorrow, even in sleep, and sighed.

It was going to be a long, hard few days for Snotlout.

* * *

 _ **PS-So things in the village aren't exactly rosy. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	14. Chapter 14

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to another chapter. I'll warn you now, this one is sad and emotional and it is slightly shorter than usual. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

By the next morning, a second bed was placed in Spitelout's room and Snotlout was firmly sat at his side.

It had taken a considerable effort for Eret to convince the boy to actually eat before returning to his father and in the end, he'd been forced to become stern to achieve it. The moment he'd eaten, the teen had immediately left the house and gone to his father's room where he was determined to stay.

The boy spent a lot of time talking to his father (despite the fact the man was almost always deeply asleep) and he'd speak about anything and everything, the tournament, past Thawfests, Hookfang, the other dragons, his adventures from fifteen years ago, he covered all topics, often several times. Spitelout himself showed no sign of hearing any of it but the teen kept going regardless.

However, Snotlout was far from his father's only visitor.

Hiccup came by every day, usually at the same time, and would spend a brief time with them before resuming his duties. Astrid also came by regularly, sometimes bringing little Stoick with her, though her visits seemed to be as much to check on Snotlout as anything else. Valka was another dedicated visitor and Snotlout liked it when she came, she spent the longest there and would often tell stories of when she and Spitelout were younger, as the man's sister, she knew a lot of them. Gothi also came when she could but age was finally starting to catch up with her and she rarely left her house these days, most people went to Fishlegs or Valka (who'd split healer duties between them) and only bothered Gothi for serious matters. There were others, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Gobber, some of Spitelout's fellow warriors, Snotlout's grandmother, but there was a distinct, if unsurprising, lack of Jorgensons.

It just illustrated how things had changed, Spitelout had once been undisputed head of the clan but now, that clan didn't even bother to turn up as he was dying.

Days drifted past but Snotlout barely noticed, he was too focused on his father to care about what the rest of the world was doing and that was all that concerned him.

* * *

It was late evening, the sun was setting over the ocean in glorious, fiery splendour and Snotlout was idly watching it through the window when his father stirred.

This wasn't the first time it had happened, Spitelout had woken before but he was rarely awake long nor was it really a state of actual awareness. However, this time his father seemed far more lucid and his eyes were much clearer and brighter than they had been for a very long time.

Snotlout leaned over, "Dad?"

Spitelout fixed his gaze on his son and stared.

For long moments, they simply looked at each other and Snotlout was about to speak when his father smiled and clasped his hand. He seemed to be content with that for the moment and they both looked out of the window at the sunset together.

Snotlout didn't know why, but he felt that this was it, that his father was about to die. However, he felt a sense of peace about it, whether it was because his father seemed at peace with the idea or not he couldn't say, but those endless minutes where they just sat and watched the sun in content silence remained in his heart forever.

Then, once the sun had finally faded, Spitelout pulled him into a tight, warm embrace and spoke quietly in his ear.

"I love you son."

Snotlout could feel tears falling unashamedly at the simple words he'd longed to hear but he still gave the equally important answer.

"I love you too dad."

His father gently released him and lowered himself back onto his pillow, he gave his son a loving smile before closing his eyes as if he was simply going to sleep. He gave one last, gentle breath before his body went still as his spirit finally moved on to what lay beyond.

Snotlout simply wept.

* * *

"May the Valkyries welcome you, and lead you through Odin's great battlefield…"

Snotlout barely heard Hiccup as he spoke the traditional warriors farewell, his focus was on the ship drifting away from the shore as he gripped his bow tightly in his hand. He was stood a couple of feet in front of the gathered crowd, arrow knocked and ready to be lit and fired onto his father's last ship.

"For a great man has fallen. A warrior. A father, and a friend."

Snotlout smoothly lit the arrow pulled the bow back, taking aim with barely a thought, he released the shaft which arched gracefully through the night sky to land accurately upon the deck. Many more followed, each one fired by someone who wished to pay their respects, and soon the ship was ablaze. As the son, Snotlout was expected to say some sort of farewell and he stepped forward towards the shore, his eyes dry. He had wept and would no doubt weep more but now was not the time for tears. He kept his eyes upon the ship.

"Thank you, dad."

He drew a sword he'd brought for this purpose and held it in a warrior's salute and bowed his head. Behind him, many others did likewise and they held it for several moments, giving their last farewell.

* * *

The ceremony over, people began to quietly shuffle away, leaving a few standing with Snotlout upon the shore. He turned to them and Valka simply walked over and pulled him into a hug, he received it gratefully and nodded his thanks when they separated. Astrid also hugged him, speaking quietly, "If you need anything, just ask."

He gave a watery smile, "Thank you."

She nodded and started to usher a slightly confused Stoick home, the little boy wasn't fully sure of what was going on, only that it was sad. He suddenly ran to Snotlout and bodily hugged him and the teen couldn't help but give a little laugh, the little boy looked up and gave a smile of his own before returning to his mother. The others also gave him gestures of comfort, Ruffnut also hugged him, Fishlegs and Tuffnut briefly squeezed his shoulder and his grandmother held him for a long time in a tight embrace. Eventually, only he, Hiccup, Toothless, Hookfang and Eret were left.

The chief gripped his shoulders and gave an understanding smile, his eyes expressing everything they needed to, Toothless rumbled consolingly and rubbed his head against him before lightly nuzzling his nose. The two then slowly took their leave and Eret stood beside him, "Do you want to leave yet?"

Snotlout shook his head, "No, I think me and Hookfang will stay longer."

The man nodded, "Okay, I'll head back up to the house, come back whenever you feel ready."

He placed a hand on the teen's shoulder then made to leave but the boy surprised him by giving him a hug, hesitantly, Eret returned it and they embraced for a while until they finally separated. The man smiled gently before also turning for home, leaving Snotlout and Hookfang alone on the shore.

The teen slowly sat down and Hookfang automatically curled himself around his rider, the Nightmare nuzzled the boy's face and Snotlout softly gave him a scratch.

"Thanks, Hookfang."

The dragon rumbled quietly and the boy leaned back against his side as he watched his father's ship, which was rapidly disintegrating and sinking. With no reason to hold them back anymore, Snotlout felt his tears build and he turned on his side, burying his face into Hookfang's scales. The dragon simply shifted his wings to cover the boy, giving him privacy to shed his tears of grief.

For the rest of the night, the two friends remained on the shore.

* * *

 _ **PS-Unfortunately, Spitelout is now dead and the next few chapters will start to show how that'll affect Berk's affairs. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	15. Chapter 15

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello all and welcome to another chapter. Ambitions and plans get slightly revealed this chapter as certain parties start to move. Thank you all for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

To everyone's surprise, Snotlout was out and about in the village two days after his father's funeral.

He had far from finished grieving but he wasn't one to sit and wallow, he much preferred to be doing something. Hookfang stuck to his side constantly and while the boy was largely running through his regular routine, he obviously wasn't fully back to normal yet.

He spoke little, was evasive when questioned and showed little interest in anything beyond necessary interactions. Understanding what he needed, most people gave him the space he needed and as days went by, those who knew him saw the gradual improvements. He appeared at the Haddock household twice, once to speak to Valka and once to speak to Hiccup. Each respective conversation remained confidential but most could guess what they were about, he'd also had similar conversations with both his grandmother and Eret which likely went a long way to helping him move on.

Things carried on as well as could be expected until an unusual encounter occurred several days later.

* * *

Snotlout wandered through the village feeling better than he had done for a while.

He wasn't happy per say but more…content, as if he'd accepted that his father had moved on to Valhalla. While he wasn't bouncing joyfully down the streets, he was more positive than he had been and could possibly even produce a genuine smile if he needed to. Hookfang could sense his rider's mood and the dragon was also more cheerful and upbeat, even allowing some rambunctious Terrible Terrors to prance around upon his back.

The little dragons seemed to be acting even more ridiculous than usual around Snotlout and Fishlegs claimed it was because they sensed his mood. Terrors seemed to be more attuned to emotions than other dragons and when someone was feeling down or sad, they'd often do what they could to cheer that person up, usually by acting stupid or being overly affectionate.

A pale blue Terror (which had been bouncing about) lost his balance and tumbled down Hookfang's neck and onto his snout. He nearly fell right off but clung to Hookfang's nose horn, much to the Nightmare's displeasure. Hookfang shook his head to try and dislodge the little dragon but the Terror took a liking to this new game and clung on tighter, squeaking with delight as he was tossed about. Hookfang shook even harder and the Terror's on his back were also taken for a ride as he started jumping about, determined to throw off his passengers.

Watching his dragon bound around like crazy, trying to get rid of a Terror clinging to his nose, Snotlout couldn't help but burst out laughing, something he hadn't done in a long time.

In the end, Hookfang ignited his fire coat which caused the Terror's to abandon ship very quickly. He noticed his rider laughing and although he snorted and turned his back in a pretend sulk, there was a glint of happiness in his eyes.

"Snotlout."

A familiar voice broke in, ruining the happy moment, and Snotlout reluctantly turned and faced the Jorgenson clan head.

"Spinelout."

If the man noticed the displeasure in the teen's voice, he didn't show it. Instead, he gave a smile, "It's good to see you're doing well."

Snotlout folded his arms disbelievingly, "Really."

The man held up his hands disarmingly, "Now, I understand why you might be uncomfortable with speaking to me. Our last conversation ended up somewhat heated but I hope we can go past that and be a bit more cordial to each other at least." He lowered his hands and smiled again, "Things have changed recently and it'll be in both our interests to remain on reasonable terms, especially with possible, future developments."

The teen frowned, "What are you talking about?"

Spinelout's smile gained an edge Snotlout couldn't identify, "Nothing to worry about, just keep my words in mind."

With that, the man nodded in farewell and walked off, leaving Snotlout standing there filled with suspicion, having noticed the slight threat in the man's voice.

What was Spinelout up to?

* * *

Eret whistled slightly as he twisted a new rope together.

He'd noticed how Snotlout was improving since Spitelout's funeral and it had him in high spirits, the boy wasn't fully there yet but he was well on the way which was quite something. Hiccup and the others had also noticed and it had pleased them no end to see the teen improve over the last few days. He still grieved and missed his father but Snotlout hadn't succumbed to it and had continued to live his life and carry on, a good sign.

The man's whistled tune changed slightly as he continued his ropemaking.

He was something of a jack of all trades on Berk, filling in and taking on odd jobs, assisting with the farming, joining the Dragon Guard on patrol, heading out with the fishermen and generally just helping out where needed. He also did a couple of other tasks on the side, including the ropemaking.

As a sailor originally, he was well acquainted with both making and fixing ropes, having had to do both while at sea before. It could be a long task but he didn't mind it too much and Berk's sailors appreciated him doing it since it freed them up to do more fishing or other tasks.

A knock on the door cut off his whistling and he frowned at it in confusion. He put the rope aside and headed for the door, swinging it open only to stop dead in shock at who his visitor was.

Spinelout smiled, "Hello Eret."

Eret's face turned stony and he answered, trying very hard to remain polite, "What have you come to see me for?"

Spinelout had never visited him before and they were far from friends, while he'd never really spoken with the man personally, Eret had seen and heard enough to not like the Jorgenson. It wasn't a great leap of logic to realise that Spinelout's sudden visit had something to do with Snotlout, immediately putting him on guard.

"I've come to discuss something that really can't be talked about out here, my I please come in?"

A resounding 'No!' was the answer Eret wanted to give but he really didn't have a reason to do so beyond not liking the man, that and speaking to Spinelout was the best way to work out what he was up to.

Wordlessly, Eret stood to one side to allow the Jorgenson in, Spinelout smiled cordially, "Thank you."

He stepped inside and they both silently sat at the table, there was a brief pause until Eret repeated his question.

"So, why are you here to see me?"

Spinelout rested his elbows upon the table, "Well, it's about Snotlout or rather, Snotlout's future."

Eret's eyes narrowed infinitesimally, "In what way?"

"Well, for the last few weeks, he's been living here with you and while I'm sure you've cared for him well, myself and few other members of my clan believe it would be better if he was now placed in the care of his clan members." Spinelout smiled, "Since he's going to become clan head at twenty-one, he should grow up amongst his blood family the way he did before he was frozen in time. That way he has lived with the clan he's supposed to lead."

Eret frowned, "And I assume that you're the one who'd take him under their wing."

The man shrugged, "I am the current clan head so it makes sense for him to learn from me and I'm more than happy to take him in."

Eret's frown deepened. It was clear what Spinelout's aim was, he was trying to put himself in the position where he could influence Snotlout the most and likely make the boy think the way he did. Of course, there was no telling what methods the man would use to achieve that and he doubted that Spinelout would have many limits on his tactics of influence. In theory, it was actually a clever plan but it was hindered by several things, including the wooliness of Berk's laws when it came to teens.

There was no set age or point where someone went from 'child' to 'adult' and the whole thing largely depended on people's personal views. Some people believed that eighteen onwards was 'adulthood' while others said that you became an adult once you'd finished at the Dragon Training Academy, yet more people claimed that you weren't a proper adult until you'd left your teens, the late teens being sort of 'adult training' though still classing you as a child. There was no definitive answer in Berk's laws and at fifteen, Snotlout sat in the grey area in regard to whether he was a child or adult.

While he was more than capable of understanding everything, taking responsibility, doing tasks and chores in the village and acting independently, he still relied on Eret to feed and clothe him as well as provide a home for him to live in. He also needed the emotional support of some sort of guardian figure as well as someone who'd deliver some sort of discipline as required. As such, Snotlout has the capability of being an adult while still having the needs of a child, making him both at once.

It was this that meant that Eret couldn't just give a straight out 'No!' to Spinelout's suggestion, with it being pretty foggy on whether Snotlout was an adult or not he couldn't just make a decision but that also meant Spinelout couldn't do so either.

As if reading his thoughts, Spinelout spoke again, "Of course, this matter will have to be taken to the council but I wanted to discuss it with you first seeing as you've been acting as the boy's guardian so far." He leaned forward, "However, me and my clan fully believe it's what's best for him and we will bring the issue forward."

Eret raised an eyebrow, "So you're going to bring this to the council regardless of what I say."

Spinelout answered simply, "Of course."

Eret glowered, "Then let me say this." He leaned forward, "Be aware that Snotlout is entirely capable of making his own decisions on this and your plan is so transparent it's ridiculous." He leaned even closer, causing Spinelout to shrink back a bit, "However, should the council somehow agree and decide to go along with it, that will not stop me, Hiccup and many others from continuing to ensure Snotlout's well-being." He smiled coldly, "Just bear that in mind."

They held gazes for several long moments before Spinelout stood and strode out the door without a word. Eret leaned back with a sigh.

While confident that the council would never place Snotlout in Spinelout's 'care', the fact the man was trying this was worrying. It was clear that he was intending to keep his hold over the Jorgenson clan anyway he could and Eret doubted Spinelout would stop there. The Jorgenson wanted power in the tribe and he'd no doubt set his sights upon Hiccup's place as chief sooner or later.

It was only just beginning.

* * *

 _ **PS-So Spinelout is slowly starting to make his moves and we'll see how this affects Snotlout soon. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	16. Chapter 16

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to the chapter. This one continues on with Spinelout's revealed plan of last chapter and there are a couple of twists this time around. Thank you all for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

Snotlout was tense as he stood with Eret in the Great Hall.

He'd been told about Spinelout's plan and the Jorgenson head hadn't wasted time with bringing his suggestion to the council. Personally, Snotlout wanted to get something (preferably deadly), ram it up the man's nose and tell him to shove off, however, that would certainly only cause problems so he had to resist his violent desires.

Once Spinelout had put forward his suggestion, the council decided to discuss it with Snotlout present. Though Berk's laws on when a child became an adult were still fuzzy, they all agreed that the teen was more than capable of voicing his own opinion. As such, it was only fair that he should be able to give some sort of input and as his current guardian, Eret was also present.

The man in question squeezed his shoulder, "There's no reason to worry Snotlout. There's no way the council is going to dump you with Spinelout, they all know his real goal and they're not going to let him achieve it.

The teen gave him a small smile but the tension remained.

He had a feeling that Spinelout had some sort of scheme planned, beyond the obvious one, but he couldn't work out what it was. That and the fact he felt himself boiling with anger, it hadn't even been two weeks since his father had died and Spinelout was already pulling something like this! It was clear that the man had no respect for his father and Snotlout wanted to make him pay for it.

He watched the man saunter into the hall, a hint of a smug smile on his face, and Snotlout took a deep breath to try and relieve his tension.

He didn't want to thump Spinelout…yet.

* * *

Hiccup sat in the chief's chair, his face impassive as Spinelout sat down.

Like Snotlout, he was suspicious that the Jorgenson head had some other plan in the works. Even Spinelout had to realise that the council would never agree to place the teen in his care so why had he pushed for this discussion? Did he have some other motive in mind or was he purely trying to be difficult?

These thoughts ran through his head even as he started the meeting.

"Right everyone, you all know that we're here to discuss placing Snotlout in Spinelout's care." He looked at the head of the Jorgensons, "Firstly, why do you believe this to be necessary?"

The man wasted no time with giving his reason, "Chief, since Snotlout is both a member of my clan and the future clan head, surely it is best for him to be looked after and taught by his clan. How can he represent us in the future if he barely knows us? Furthermore, how much can he bring to Berk as a whole if he's been raised by a man who has no clan?"

There was a rumbling of discontent and Gobber spoke in a growl, "And what does that have to do with anything!? Eret has done nothing but help Berk since he arrived! Ye have no right to try and insult him to try and get your way!"

Eret scowled, "You've got that right!"

Hiccup held up a hand to stem any further retorts but narrowed his eyes dangerously, "We are not having this discussion to insult Eret, he's certainly a member of this tribe and deserves the same level of respect, clan or not." He lowered his hand, "Now, the way I see it. Most of your reasons may seem valid but we must remember that Snotlout is fifteen, not a young child, and has proven himself capable already."

"However, my clan is still concerned about whether or not he can lead us well." Spinelout answered, "He's spent little time with any of his clan members as it is since he returned."

"That might have something to do with you lot ignoring and belittling him."

Though Gustav had muttered quietly, his words were still heard by most and Spinelout bristled, "And yet the rest of you have hardly pushed him to improve. He needs to be back with his own clan and not coddled by the rest of the village."

"Oh, and your daughter isn't coddled?" Agar answered sarcastically. "Perhaps you should get your own kin sorted before trying to exert your will over another!"

The sniping continued and was gradually building as tensions began to run high. Spinelout was demanding that Snotlout be placed in his care while everyone else argued why he didn't need to be. Hiccup was about to bring order when another voice cut in and stole everyone's attention.

"And does anyone care what I think!?"

All eyes fixed on Snotlout and Hiccup nearly grinned when he saw the teen's face, bearing the classic scowl that told you he was going to give his opinion whether you wanted it or not.

The boy folded his arms, "I thought the whole reason for me being here was so that I could say what I wanted." He looked to Hiccup, "Chief?"

The man smiled and nodded, telling him to continue and Snotlout fixed his gaze upon the council.

"I know that ever since I unfroze, I've been racing to catch up with most of the village, fifteen years passed for you while no time passed for me. I also know that many of you will still consider me a child and still in need of some sort of guardian, however, I do understand enough to make my own choice." He looked straight at Spinelout, "I made it clear to you before that I am not going to let the Jorgensons control me, despite having the same name. As such, I will not simply be dragged into your care because you're giving some half-baked excuse about it being the best thing for me, it's not and it will never be!"

Behind the boy, Hiccup could see Eret gaping slightly at Snotlout's speech, Hiccup himself had a faint smirk and he also looked at Spinelout.

"Well, I think it's very clear that Snotlout does not want to be placed in your care and I don't think there's anything more to be said." He glanced around the rest of the council who nodded in agreement and he smiled, "Well then, Snotlout won't be placed in Spinelout's care and if he's happy with the way things are then let's just leave it at that."

In the silence that followed, Spinelout leaned back, "Is that the decision of the council?"

Hiccup nodded, "Since Snotlout is fifteen and clearly capable of making his own decision, it is the decision of the council to honour his choice."

The Jorgenson head placed his elbows on the table, "I see. If Snotlout is choosing to remain where he is then that is his decision, however." He looked up, "By choosing Eret, or indeed anyone else, over his own clan, the Jorgensons agree that this means he has turned his back on his clan. As such…"

His mouth twitched upwards ever so slightly,

"…we'll have no choice but to declare him no longer a part of the clan."

At his words, Gobber surged upwards with a roar, "Ye filthy, low-born, scum! How dare ye do such a thing!"

Agar was close behind, "You would threaten to take his birthright away, his family name?! That is low, even for you Spinelout!"

The others all leapt to their feet, each yelling their own abuse at Spinelout's threat, the man himself however, simply sat and stared at Snotlout, his smug smirk clearly showing in his eyes, and Hiccup saw that this had been his other plan.

If Snotlout was no longer part of the clan, he lost his right to become clan head which left Spinelout completely in control of the Jorgenson clan and free to pick his own successor. If Snotlout stuck to his decision then he'd basically become clanless with no say in what the Jorgensons did. On the flip side, if he changed his mind and went into Spinelout's care, he'd remain the clan heir but would be opening himself up to whatever 'training' the clan head saw fit. The man had created himself a win-win situation.

Even though he was Chief, Hiccup couldn't meddle too much with one clan's internal affairs. If the Jorgenson Clan had agreed to go along with this then he couldn't revoke it, unless it was a clear threat towards Berk as a whole. On the same note, the council as a whole also couldn't overturn the decision if the Jorgensons decided to remove Snotlout from the clan and Hiccup felt anger bubble within him.

Spinelout was willing to hold Snotlout's birthright to ransom to try and get his way, though it technically wasn't against Berk's laws it was dangerously immoral. Most of the village would be disgusted by this action and it would certainly cause the other clans to turn against Spinelout.

With Viking voices thundering around the hall, Hiccup wasn't sure how he'd get them back into order. It was getting dangerously close to becoming a brawl as fists were raised towards the Jorgenson, Eret had already moved just a little in front of Snotlout but his look of raged revealed that he was hoping to get his chance to pound the man himself. Gobber was already inching his way towards the man and Agar looked ready to pounce at any moment but once again, another voice halted everything.

"SHUT UP!"

All eyes snapped towards the source of the shout, fixing themselves upon Snotlout who didn't seem to care that he'd just yelled at the village council. The boy's face bore a wrathful scowl Hiccup hoped he'd never see again as he glared directly at the still smug Spinelout.

"If that's the way you want to play this Spinelout then fine! My decision is not changing." He stepped forward, practically spitting the words out, "So go ahead, kick me out of the clan! Ever since I've come back it's become more and more clear that the Jorgensons have absolutely no regard for me whatsoever, you are nothing like Jorgen was and I'm more than happy to sever my last tie to you." He folded his arms determinedly, "The Jorgenson clan has become something that I no longer want any part of so I'm sticking with my choice!"

There was a long, deathly hush following his words as everyone did nothing but stare at him, even Spinelout looked surprised. The silence stretched on until Snotlout tapped his foot impatiently, "Well Spinelout, are going to kick me out the clan or not?"

The Jorgenson head slowly stood, "Very well." He smirked, "As head of the Jorgenson clan, I hereby strip you of your right to use the Jorgenson name. All inheritance and benefits of our name are no longer yours to claim nor may you continue to hold any heirlooms belonging to the clan you may have already received. As of this moment, you are no longer a Jorgenson!"

Snotlout smiled, "Good."

His response caused Spinelout's smirk to falter but the man quickly recovered and turned away, "Then I believe that we're done here."

When no one gave an objection, he strode out of the hall, leaving stunned silence in his wake. The moment the great doors shut behind him, Gobber looked at the boy in shock, "Snotlout, ye do realise what ye've done right? Ye just gave up yer family name."

Agar sighed, "Not to mention your inheritance."

The simply nodded, "I know, but I meant what I said when I told him I no longer want to be a part of his clan."

Fishlegs spoke quietly, "But now you're not a part of any clan."

Snotlout smiled, "Maybe, but I'm still a part of Berk." He frowned, "The Jorgensons on the other hand, they're obviously turning against the village as a whole. I don't know exactly what Spinelout is planning, but I know he's not going to stop now, he's going to want more, he always has done. Even if I agreed to go into his care and stay in the clan, he'd found a way to get rid of me at some point."

A couple of people looked shocked at the matter of fact way he said this, but Agar simply nodded, "You're right, at least this way you don't appear to be as much of a threat to him anymore."

"Exactly, and that's his mistake."

At Snotlout's words, everyone looked surprised and Hiccup frowned, "What do you mean?"

The teen grinned, "Spinelout doesn't seem to have realised it but he still isn't the proper head of the Jorgenson clan, not by clan tradition anyway."

Fishlegs frowned, "But the clan chose him, didn't they?"

Snotlout shrugged, "That's not enough, he has to prove himself in the Jorgenson trial first. Otherwise, he's just a pretender and guilty of leading the clan under false pretences." He grinned again, "It's all written down in my family's book, the one that contains all of the Jorgenson traditions. Spinelout hasn't seen it yet because it belonged to my dad and I know he still had it before he died, I inherited it after him but now I'm no longer a part of the clan, I have to hand it over because it's a Jorgenson heirloom." He smirked, "No doubt Spinelout is going to make a big show of having the book read out to the whole clan to cement his place as clan head but it'll only tell them all that he can't be clan head without proving himself in the Jorgenson trial."

Agar raised an eyebrow, "But surely they know about the trial already?"

The boy shook his head, "Nope, the book is only really for clan heads and their successors and since all previous heads have passed the mantle onto their son, no other member of the clan has had a reason to see the book, the only place the Jorgenson trial is mentioned. This is the first time that leadership of the clan has moved bloodlines."

"Even so, won't Spinelout just find out about the trial in the book and then complete it." Hiccup answered.

Again, the teen shook his head, "Nope, the trial location is passed down by word of mouth from the clan head to his successor, otherwise any Jorgenson could complete the trial and claim leadership and you could guess how that would go. My dad told me where to find it in case something happened to him before I was old enough to take the trial and I doubt he'd have told anyone else, even with my disappearance."

A slow smile spread across Hiccup's face as he realised where this was going, "So what you're saying is, the Jorgensons are all about to discover that Spinelout actually has no right to lead the clan because he hasn't undergone the trial to prove his right to the position. A trial that only you know how to find."

Snotlout grinned slyly.

"And since he just kicked me out the clan, I'm under no obligation to tell him."

* * *

 _ **PS-Snotlout-1, Spinelout-0. Yes, Snotlout did just outsmart his rival and now things are about to get very difficult for Spinelout. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	17. Chapter 17

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello all and welcome. This chapter details some of the aftermath of last chapter and starts on the next part of the story. Thank you all for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 17**

By the next day, Spinelout had done exactly as Snotlout predicted and everyone knew that he wasn't qualified to be clan head.

However, what they didn't know was that Snotlout knew where the man could find the Jorgenson Trial to prove himself. The council had decided to keep his knowledge of it secret as they all agreed that Spinelout would do whatever he could to the boy to get the information, therefore, it was better if he did not know.

Their silence also served another purpose, with Spinelout's right to lead the Jorgensons gone, he lost his sway in the village. Furthermore, with no actual leader to head up the clan, the Jorgensons say in village matters had greatly reduced, since he wasn't clan head, Spinelout's place on the council was that much more precarious. Tradition stated that the Jorgenson head had a place on the council, alongside the Ingerman and Hofferson heads. However, there was no Jorgenson head and Spinelout didn't have that position to maintain his place anymore, he had to tread carefully or risk losing his position on the village council.

This put the Jorgensons in an awkward position, they had to be very careful with throwing their weight around the village as they no longer had status to protect them. With no clan head, their clan wasn't sat very high in Berk's unofficial hierarchy so upsetting people was not a good move, curbing their attitudes greatly for the time being.

* * *

Despite the fact he'd basically lost his family name, Snotlout felt pretty light and happy.

He never thought he'd be pleased to sever his ties to his clan but he'd felt so disconnected from them recently, it was almost a relief. He was finally free from their expectations of him, from being dragged to their way of thinking, from having them trying to claim his achievements as theirs and their constant pressure on him. Of course, he now technically had no clan but neither did Eret and Gobber had lived on Berk for years without it ever bothering him, so it seemed a small price to pay.

However, many people had been shocked when it was announced he'd been kicked from his clan. A surprising number had flocked to see how he was coping and show him support. Most had also muttered darkly about the Jorgensons, saying that they had no right to kick him out, his grandmother had been particularly vocal and she'd nearly stormed off to beat up every single one of but he'd managed to convince her not to.

Wandering through the village, Snotlout meandered his way towards the Haddock house.

He'd been invited over for dinner there by Astrid (well, more like _told_ he'd be there) and he'd happily agreed. Eret had been asked to help on a long fishing trip and was going to be gone until late that night, leaving Snotlout to either wait or sort his own food out, so he'd opted for getting the free meal instead.

For the first time since he'd unfrozen, Hookfang had let him head off on his own, preferring to spend his evening napping, meaning that he was without his dragon as he walked. Strangely enough, it felt kind of lonely but he guessed it would be weird since the Nightmare had stuck by his side constantly for weeks now. Perhaps this was how Hiccup and Toothless felt whenever they were separated?

As he walked, he noticed Spinelout coming the other way and he couldn't help but smirk. He considered several snarky comments he could say as they passed but he repressed the urge to do so, he may have outwitted Spinelout but it still wasn't a good idea to provoke the man.

As they passed, Spinelout suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him into a gap between two huts. He shoved Snotlout against one of the walls and stepped up threateningly, "I know your game boy!"

The teen scowled, not letting himself be intimidated "What game?"

The man growled, "You know exactly where the Jorgenson Trial is, don't you? I know your father told you and you're keeping it secret to undermine me! Are you planning to take the trial yourself and usurp me, is that it!?"

Snotlout stepped up to him, "Even if I do know where the trial is, I have no intention of taking it myself. I can't anyway since you've booted me from the clan."

With another growl, Spinelout grabbed the front of his shirt and spoke in a low, dangerous voice, "Tell me where it is!"

The boy smirked, "Or what? You know you can't do anything except throw threats at me."

Snotlout had confidence in that statement, since he'd been kicked out of his clan, the council had declared that he was under the protection of Berk as a whole. With his youth and no clan to defend him, he'd been named as 'vulnerable'. This meant that if Spinelout did anything to him, all Snotlout had to do was report it to a member of the village and it would be investigated. This also applied if a member of the village became suspicious that someone was harming or endangering the boy, Spinelout was already swimming in dangerous waters with his threatening show and he knew it.

The man briefly growled louder then released his hold and stepped away, "You can't hide behind Hiccup and the council forever boy. I'll find out what you know, one way or another!"

As he stalked away, Snotlout called after him, "Even without Hiccup and the council's protection, you still wouldn't get anything from me!"

* * *

Astrid frowned as she watched Snotlout devour his food hungrily.

She'd noticed something off about him since he'd arrived and was sure something was bothering him. It wasn't obvious as he'd played with a very hyper Stoick, but every so often she spotted this look in his eye as if he was thinking about something. Normally, she'd leave discovering the problem to Hiccup, he was far better at listening and giving advice than she was, but he was caught up in village business and had said he probably wouldn't be back home until very late. Valka was also out dealing with a particularly sick Zippleback and was likely going to spend the night in the stables to look after it, leaving her as the only one able to help the teen out.

Stoick had long since been sent to bed and Snotlout was on his third helping of dessert (she'd forgotten how much he could eat) when she finally attempted to bring it up.

"Are you okay?"

He glanced up in surprise at her question, spoon still in his mouth. He quickly chewed and swallowed so he could answer, "Yeah, why?"

"It just seems like something's bothering you."

He shrugged, "Oh, it's nothing. I just had a run in with Spinelout on the way here." He leaned back casually, "He tried to threaten me into telling him where the Jorgenson Trial is."

"What!" Astrid's protective instincts went into overdrive, "Have you told Hiccup? What if he tries something!?"

The teen shrugged again, "He won't try anything, he knows that if he did it'll only cause problems for him. At the moment, he's nothing but bluster so I didn't see the need to tell anyone."

She leaned forward, "But he _threatened_ you Snotlout, how can you be so sure he'll stop there?"

The boy fixed her with a gaze, "Because I know how the Jorgensons work, they won't want to try anything when they know the village is against them. Spinelout is aware he's on thin ice as it is, if he pushes things by trying anything with me then he knows that any chance of him getting his position back will be lost." He smiled, "He was just trying to scare an answer out of me but it didn't work, I used to try a similar tactic fifteen years ago so I recognise when he's bluffing."

She frowned, "I still don't like it, and I'll definitely be letting Hiccup know."

He nodded, "I know, but there really isn't anything to worry about. With no position and no leader for the clan, Spinelout and the others are just talk."

He said it with such confidence, Astrid found herself believing him, however, she couldn't stop worrying and promised herself that she'd keep a close eye on Spinelout.

* * *

Hiccup sat with Fishlegs in the Great Hall, pitching his idea for the teens.

"So, if we head here, it'll be the perfect spot."

The larger man eyed the place Hiccup had pointed to on the map, "But are you sure this is a good idea, several of these kids probably won't do well with camping."

"But that's why we should do it!" Hiccup stated, "We've enjoyed peace pretty much since Drago was defeated, its making our kids complacent." He sighed, "Most of them haven't gone far beyond Berk and some barely go into our own forest, they don't know how to take care of themselves when they can't just go home nor do they know what to do when the village's resources aren't readily available. We were flying our dragons all over the Archipelago when we were teens and we certainly did a lot of camping out and fending for ourselves, even before we went to Dragon's Edge."

Fishlegs still didn't look convinced, "Maybe, but is it still a good idea?"

Hiccup tapped the map, "Look, this spot is pretty safe and has both water and food readily available, it's the perfect place to teach them the basics and it's not like we're abandoning them there. Gustav has already agreed to help lead the trip and teach them what he knows, he has extensive experience and knows how to keep them safe without coddling them. Gobber also has a lot of experience and he's been teaching teens these things for decades, they'll be in good hands. They'll also only be there overnight so it's not exactly the most trying of experiences."

Fishlegs rubbed his chin, "I guess you're right, and I do agree that the current generation really lack when it comes to this sort of thing, we can further expand on it over time as well."

Hiccup grinned, "That's the idea, they'll never be great dragon riders if they can't handle one night of roughing it. They could well spend days away from Berk if they join the Dragon Guard, better that they start learning what that'll be like now."

Fishlegs smiled, "You're right." He then frowned, "Though Ruffnut is not going to like the idea of Snotlout being away from the village overnight."

The chief raised a surprised eyebrow, "Seriously?"

The Ingerman sighed, "Seriously, she's convinced that he'll disappear again if he leaves the village, never mind the fact he's been on plenty of long flights on Hookfang already. She's only become more protective of him since he was thrown out of his clan, I think she sees him as some sort of surrogate little brother." He placed his head heavily on his arms, "I'm not looking forward to finding out how she'll react if we ever do a similar thing with our daughters."

Hiccup chuckled and stood, "Well, have fun giving her the good news."

Fishlegs glared, "Hiccup, sometimes you have a seriously cruel streak."

The chief just gave a laugh and left the hall.

* * *

 _ **PS-Next up, camping trip! Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	18. Chapter 18

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello all and welcome to the next chapter. This one goes onto the camping trip that Hiccup planned last time. Thank you all for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 18**

Snotlout shoved some extra clothes in a bag, double checking he had everything he needed.

It had been nearly two weeks since Spinelout's attempted intimidation and the man had, predictably, not tried anything else. The Jorgensons as a whole had greatly quietened down and the village was enjoying the reprieve from their meddeling. In the midst of this, Hiccup had announced his plan for having the Academy teens camp out overnight and preparations had begun.

Having done such things several times before, Snotlout had needed little time to get ready and did feel that he wasn't going to get much from it. Even before the peace with the dragons, he, along with the others, had been taught how to survive out in the wilds. It made sense, say you were separated from a hunting group or stranded after a shipwreck (both very real possibilities with the Viking lifestyle), you had to know how to survive until you either made your way home or were found. His father had made sure he knew something of finding food, shelter and warmth and they'd camped out quite a bit during the time of the Original Riders. He wasn't entirely sure why this trip was necessary.

Satisfied he had everything he needed, he shouldered his bag and sauntered out of his room, Hookfang close behind. Eret was in the kitchen and he glanced at his ward and gave a smile, "You've got everything?"

The teen shrugged, "Yep, its only one night, I don't exactly need much." He headed for the door and held it open for Hookfang to manoeuvre through, "I'll see you tomorrow night."

Eret nodded, "See you tomorrow…oh…and try not to kill Maribelle, no matter what she does."

Snotlout grinned, "I'll try, but if Hookfang roasts her then it's not my fault."

The man laughed, "That seems fair enough."

As the Nightmare finally squeezed himself out the door, the boy gave his guardian one last grin and a wave before heading out himself.

* * *

It was a dull, grey day outside, with indications that it would rain but Snotlout wasn't too fussed.

Living on Berk meant dealing with rain, it was a fact of life that wasn't going to go away and most didn't really notice it unless it got really bad. It might put a bit of a dampener on the flight to the campsite but it was barely a great hardship, he'd flown in worse.

They were leaving as a group from the docks and he and Hookfang ambled in that direction. Vikings were bustling about as they attended to their daily tasks and a few nodded or smiled at him as he went past. Soon, they approached the docks and found a fairly large group gathered, his classmates were present and it seemed like their families had also shown up to see them off.

They all seem absorbed in their own interactions so Snotlout set about loading Hookfang's saddle, though he could hear a lot of what was going on.

"It's okay mom, I've got everything, I checked three times!"

Snotlout smiled slightly as he heard Huginn try and convince his fussing mother as his father stepped in, "Stop worrying dear, we were camping out all the time at his age and we were fine."

Snotlout turned his attention away from them and onto Peregrine, who was posturing, "This'll be easy dad, I'll nail this trip!"

His father laughed loudly, "Of course you will lad!"

Fenja was quick to cut in, "Well I'll nail it far quicker and easier than you Peregrine, just you wait!"

Her mother was just as quick as her daughter, "You tell him girl! You'll prove yourself the best as always."

Rolling his eyes at their endless competition, Snotlout secured his things to the saddle and scratched Hookfang under the chin. The Nightmare closed his eyes in pleasure and rumbled happily as Gustav came over closely followed by Fanghook, he smiled, "Well, looks like you're all set, not that I'm surprised." He then glanced up the docks and sighed, "Oh brother, she really doesn't know what she's in for!"

Looking behind him, Snotlout saw Maribelle and Cordillia walking proudly towards them, a line of teenage boys following behind carrying a bag each. The boy raised an eyebrow, "Are you going for a month or something?"

She sniffed primly, "I don't recall giving you permission to speak to me."

Snotlout snorted, "What, I need your permission now?" He bowed mockingly, "Well forgive me for forgetting the proper etiquette when speaking with a prattess."

Hookfang sniggered behind him as Maribelle puffed herself up in outrage, "How dare you! You…you…clanless urchin!"

He leaned back against Hookfang and smirked, "Yep, that's me!" He looked at the line of boys with Maribelle's bags again, "You know, Cordillia is the one who's going to have to carry all those."

The girl frowned, "What?"

"You didn't know?" He smiled, "We're flying to the campsite on our dragons so Cordillia is going to have to carry all those bags as well as you." He shrugged, "Good luck getting them all on her back."

She waved her hand dismissively, "Well, you can help a lady in need and carry some of them on Hookfang. He's got enough space."

He laughed, "Really, you think you can just dump some of them on me? Sorry, but neither me nor Hookfang have any desire to do that."

She smirked, "I'm sure I can get you to change your mind."

Behind her, the boys glowered at him and stepped forward, one or two cracking their knuckles, but Snotlout simply gestured to the dragon behind him, "Really guys."

They took one look at the glowering Nightmare and realised the stupidity of their actions, they rapidly backed off and hurried away, leaving Maribelle's bags laying on the docks. Gustav had been keeping careful watch on the whole thing and he stepped forward, "Maribelle, sort those bags out and pack only the essentials. There's no way you need all of that for one overnight camp." He narrowed his eyes warningly, "And I don't want to find you using your posse of love-struck boys to try and force your way again."

She sniffed haughtily but obeyed.

* * *

It took most of the morning to reach their campsite and fortunately, the rain held off.

As well as Gustav and the teens, Gobber and Fishlegs were also coming along, both in a teaching capacity, and Gustav was glad of their assistance.

Gobber had far more experience with handling teens than he did and Fishlegs taught them every day, so their knowledge was welcome. Gustav himself didn't work with teens that often, he was usually training young warriors and riders, but he had to admit things seemed to be going pretty well so far.

They had already set up camp and he'd found that most of them had surprised him with their ability to do so, he'd half-expected them to muck the whole thing up but they'd done it with relative ease. He only needed to give them some quick lessons and soon they had reasonable shelters sorted. After that they moved onto food and firewood gathering and he continued to gauge the teens as they worked.

Unsurprisingly, Snotlout was the most adept out of all of them, he didn't need any pointers on sorting shelter and had been invaluable in helping some of the others out. It was the same when it came to food gathering, his archery skills were perfect for hunting and he could be surprisingly stealthy when he wanted to be. However, he wasn't so knowledgeable when it came to what flora he could eat which was noted as a point he could work on.

Huginn was inexperienced but willing to learn. He had difficulty at first but with some teaching he managed quite well, more importantly, he didn't seem to mind roughing it and just did the best he could.

Peregrine and Fenja also managed quite well, however, you could see they didn't like it very much and didn't see the point. They weren't causing trouble yet but they were complaining and muttering and it was clear they hadn't realised exactly what camping out meant.

And Maribelle? Well…she was useless.

She had no survival skills, no concept of what roughing it meant and was just realising that she wasn't going to get her way out here. She'd pouted, complained, thrown tantrums and sobbed but to little avail. On Berk, she had swarms of love-struck boys that danced to attention if she so much as sniffled but out here, there were none. For the first time in her overprivileged life, she was having to work for herself and she was not liking it one bit.

Gustav glanced up at the sky.

It was nearing dusk which meant he'd have to get everyone back to camp soon. He could hear Maribelle nearby gathering firewood (sniffling about it as she did so), Huginn was with Fishlegs being taught the fine art of fishing without a dragon while Peregrine and Fenja were off gathering food under Gobber's watchful eye. Snotlout was currently absent but he was sure the boy was off hunting further away from camp. He wasn't too worried since he knew the teen could take care of himself as well as the fact he could see Hookfang in the nearby bay catching his own food, if the Nightmare wasn't worried, then there was little need for concern.

Snotlout would be back by dusk no problem.

* * *

Some distance from the camp, in the island's forests, Snotlout was stalking a deer.

Hunting was actually a fairly new skill he'd gained and it had been taught to him by Eret. The man's father had apparently been a skilled hunter and although his son had taken to the sea, he'd taught him a lot. They'd done several hunting trips around the forests of Berk already and the teen had learned how to track and stalk animals. When you combined this with his skills in archery, it made him a pretty good hunter when required.

Taking careful steps, Snotlout kept his eyes fixed upon the deer that was foraging between the trees. He had to work hard to keep quiet as he approached (more than oncein the past he'd startled his target with unintentional noise) and he inched closer. Deeming himself close enough, he slowly drew back his already nocked arrow and aimed carefully, intending to finish it in one shot.

Suddenly, the deer's head shot up, it looked in his direction and bolted.

Watching it go, Snotlout lowered his bow and sighed, "Great!"

It was his last try before heading back to join the others and he'd hoped to bring home a deer and impress them all. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to try again but he at least had several rabbits they could use.

Placing the bow on its clip that had been built into the quiver, Snotlout turned right into the oncoming club that cracked him over the head and rendered him unconscious.

* * *

 _ **PS-Cliff-hanger! Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	19. Chapter 19

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello and welcome to the next chapter. This one gives us some Snotlout in distress and some Gustav being the awesome hero. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 19**

Gustav looked up at the night sky worriedly.

Snotlout hadn't returned yet and with dusk long since gone, he was sure something had happened. From their expressions, he could tell that Fishlegs and Gobber were equally concerned, the blacksmith was pacing around the camp while the dragon rider sat anxiously twiddling his thumbs. Decisively, Gustav stood.

"Snotlout's been gone for far too long, we need to get out there and find him."

"I don't see why we should bother."

Maribelle's words were barely audible but all three adults fixed her with withering glares and Gobber spoke sharply, "Because he's a member of our group and has gone missing! We survive out here by watching out for each other, whether we get on well or not. That's how Hiccup and the others got through so many scrapes and why Berk has lasted so long, so don't ye ever forget it!"

She looked down moodily but didn't respond, realising she was on shaky ground. Gustav kept is disapproving gaze upon her a little longer before giving instructions to them all, "Right, we'll split into three groups. Fishlegs, Huginn and Fenja, you three take your dragons and search to the east. Gobber, Peregrine and Maribelle, you and your dragons search the west and I'll head north with Hookfang and Fanghook. It's too dark to search well from the sky so stick to the ground and check everywhere thoroughly, get a dragon to fire a signal shot into the air if you find anything and take some medical supplies with you, Snotlout may be injured."

Fishlegs and Gobber swiftly got their parties organised and set off in their designated directions while Gustav took Fanghook and a frantic Hookfang northwards, hoping they'd find Snotlout quickly.

* * *

Snotlout groaned, his head pounding furiously and dragging him into painful awareness.

He tried to open his eyes and found his left one to be lightly caked in a substance that took him a moment to identify as dried blood. Instinctively, he went to wipe it away but found that he couldn't move his hands and he looked down.

He saw rope…a lot of rope.

Someone had bound him very securely and left him propped up against a rocky wall, he instantly began struggling but it soon became very apparent that he was not getting loose without help. He began taking in his surroundings and found that he was in some sort of cave, belongings were scattered about indicating that someone had been living here for a long time but what pulled his attention was the weird chalk mark in the centre of the floor.

It was a large circle but it was ringed with strange symbols and patterns, a star shape graced its centre and it had a rune at each of its four points. Snotlout knew enough to hazard a guess at what the mark was and fear built inside him.

Whoever kidnapped him practised magic.

While Gothi cast bones, and used other forms of divination, she didn't actually partake in any mystic arts involving magic circles and spell casting. On the whole, Berk regarded magic as either a trick or something to be suspicious of, they'd all heard too many stories of people who practised such things partaking in human sacrifices and other, horrific deeds. From time to time, strange cults with dark practices would surface and become responsible for the deaths of several Vikings throughout the Archipelago as they engaged in deadly rituals. So, being a captive of someone who seemingly practised such things was not an ideal position to be in.

A figure skulked into view and Snotlout took a good look at the one who'd most likely kidnapped him.

He wasn't that remarkable as far as Vikings went, he had the same build as most and was not particularly old or young, but there was something…off…about him.

He wore a maniacal grin and his blonde hair was dirty and unkept, there was a crazed gleam in his eye as he spoke with excitement.

"Ooh, you're awake! Yes…that's good, that's very good, very good indeed. This is excellent for Ævar."

The man thrust his face into Snotlout's and the teen recoiled fearfully, Ævar giggled, "The little apple will do Ævar good, yes he will."

The man scurried over to a table that was nearly buckling under a mountain of large books and began rifling through one of them, chattering away to himself, "So, apple is awake, now to examine further. Yes…yes…yes that seems to be the case, must study again!"

He shot back over to Snotlout and peered into his face, the boy gulped and squirmed slightly, not sure what to make of his captor's behaviour. The man grinned then dived back over to the table and madly scribbled in another book, "Apple seems to be not fully unfrozen, more chilled. Can move and interact but growth is slowed, time extended. Good news for Ævar, very good news indeed! Now, how to use?"

With his captor distracted, Snotlout began quietly struggling once more. This guy was clearly crazed and he needed to get as far away as possible as quickly as possible, he tried twisting his bound hands to reach at least one of the knots but the ropes wouldn't budge. He wriggled and squirmed, desperate to find some sort of looseness in his bonds but nothing he did worked! Crazed as he was, this guy knew how to tie someone up.

All the while he was struggling, his captor had been muttering away and his words caught the teen's attention.

"So, if growth is slowed, magic from the island is still present within. If Ævar can get magic, then Ævar can use it, but how to get magic? Magic inside apple so magic must be brought out of apple...apple must be drained!"

He giggled crazily and Snotlout stopped struggling and stared in fear. The man looked at him with maniacal glee and drew a long, thin knife. Upon seeing it, the teen's fear spiked dramatically, "What are you doing!?"

"Apple has magic inside so magic must be brought outside. Need to drain blood."

"WHAT!" Snotlout blanched in terror, "You can't!"

His captor simply giggled, "Need apple's blood, blood help Ævar live forever, no more death for Ævar!"

The deranged man approached, holding a large bowl in one hand and the knife in the other, and Snotlout began struggling violently, shouting loudly in desperation and fear, "SOMEONE, HELP ME!"

The man brought the blade close to his throat.

* * *

"Snotlout! Snotlout!"

Gustav scoured the forest to the north, calling Snotlout's name as he went. Behind him, Hookfang and Fanghook sniffed everything they could, trying to pick up the teen's scent, they weren't tracker class but the could still sniff out a smell if needed.

So far, they hadn't seen any sign of the boy and Gustav was starting to think that maybe Snotlout was in one of the other directions when Hookfang gave an excited roar. Without waiting for a response, the Nightmare shot off into the woods, snout to the ground as he tracked a scent. Gustav and Fanghook swiftly followed and the warrior felt a surge of hope.

If anyone could track Snotlout's scent, it would be Hookfang so this turn of events looked promising.

The Nightmare led them far from the camp and up the slightly more raised northern point of the island, he ignored everything else and pushed on, eventually leading them to a large, rocky outcrop. Suddenly, the dragon stopped and roared in frustration and Gustav darted around him to see what the problem was.

A cave was sat at the outcrop's base but the entrance was far too small for the dragons.

Hookfang growled and stamped his feet, angry at this blockage in his quest to find his rider, and Gustav quickly tried to soothe the dragon, "Calm down Hookfang, I can fit in there just fine. I'll dive in and get him out, promise."

The Nightmare grumbled and nudged him towards the entrance, not wanting any delays, but just as the warrior was about to enter, a terrified shout rang out from within.

"SOMEONE, HELP ME!"

Like a shot, Gustav dived into the cave, recognising Snotlout's voice and the panic it held. Heedlessly pounding onwards, he barrelled inside and took in everything at a glance.

Snotlout was propped up against the wall and tightly bound, he was trying desperately to get away from a Viking that was bringing a knife right to the teen's throat.

Gustav moved as a blur.

Sprinting over to the pair, he swung his leg up in an impressive kick that both knocked the man back and sent the knife sailing far away from Snotlout. Planting himself between the teen and the man, he shot forwards and punched the man solidly in the face, not giving him time to recover.

In his time as a member of the Dragon Guard, Gustav had made a name for himself as being able to knock most Vikings out with ease. His mix of unusual fighting techniques and speed fitted his leaner frame exquisitely and as such, this quick, accurate punch was enough to knock the enemy spark out.

Enemy dealt with for the time being, he focused all his attention on the boy and started cutting his bonds away, "Snotlout?"

The teen didn't answer, instead he was staring at the unconcious man in shock and the warrior gently squeezed his shoulder, "You're all right."

The boy flicked his eyes towards him and slowly nodded, "Yeah."

Gustav gave a small smile then carefully examined Snotlout's head, "That's quite a bleed you've got there." He frowned, "Doesn't actually look that bad but it'll need cleaning up. How does it feel?"

The boy winced slightly, "Its throbbing a lot but that's it."

"You don't feel lightheaded or anything?"

"No, it just hurts."

Gustav smiled again, "Okay, we best head outside before Hookfang smashes his way in but lean on me as we go, just in case."

Carefully, he helped the boy to his feet and together they made their way outside, with Gustav not mentioning the fact Snotlout had them give the unconscious Viking as wide a berth as possible. The moment they were out, Hookfang pounced upon them, furiously nuzzling his rider and growling with frantic worry when he saw the boy's wound. Snotlout grinned and willingly hugged and scratched his dragon, soaking in every bit of love he could from his friend and Gustav felt guilty for interrupting them.

"Snotlout, I need to clean out your head wound. Can you sit for me?"

Obediently, the boy complied and Hookfang automatically curled around him as Gustav knelt down, a clean, fresh water soaked cloth ready. Gently, the warrior dabbed at the wound, wiping away the dried blood that had congealed there, Fanghook had already fired a signal shot to tell the others they'd found Snotlout, letting his rider concentrate on the teen.

Snotlout winced occasionally as the man worked but he didn't complain nor cry out. As Gustav had thought, the wound didn't appear to be that bad. It wasn't deep and he couldn't see any obvious signs that the blow that had caused it in the first place had done any other sort of damage. Snotlout appeared lucid and there was nothing else to indicate any deeper harm but he'd let Fishlegs take a look himself when he arrived.

The others flew in on their dragons halfway through his ministrations and Fishlegs immediately spotted the injury and hurried to Snotlout's side, Gustav let him take over medical duties and at Gobber's questioning look, he pointed towards the cave, "The unconscious man in there needs to be restrained before he comes around."

The blacksmith nodded in understanding and shuffled inside to deal with their new prisoner while the younger man addressed the gawking teens, "Peregrine, Fenja, you two follow Gobber and give him a hand. Huginn, Mariebelle, I want you guys to fly back to camp and prepare some food and make sure the fire's lit, we'll be with you shortly."

All of them, even Mariebelle, responded promptly and Gustav looked back to Snotlout. Fishlegs was doing a series of checks to make sure the teen only had the visible injury and it seemed Snotlout was passing them.

With the boy in good hands and the assailant being dealt with by Gobber, the warrior started a quick patrol of the immediate area, making sure that no other foes were lurking nearby.

* * *

 _ **PS-Next chapter we'll find out a bit more about Snotlout's kidnapper and what he was trying to achieve. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	20. Chapter 20

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello and welcome to the twentieth chapter after another long gap. This one shows a bit more of the man's motivations from last chapter and features a brief cameo from Heather. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 20**

It was something of a surprise the next morning when Hiccup swooped down upon Toothless like the world was coming to an end.

Relief was clear in his eyes when he saw all of them sticking their heads out of their tents in confusion. A confusion which only increased when Heather followed behind him on Windshear.

Gustav strode out to meet them, "Chief?"

Hiccup dismounted Toothless and hurries over, "I'm glad you're all alright. Dagur sent word that a dangerous member of his tribe had just been found here, he wanted people to stay clear until they caught him again."

Gobber marched over, "Well, if 'dangerous member' means someone who's completely crazy, then we've already done their job for them!"

"What!"

Gustav quickly related the previous night's events to the chief and Hiccup's eyes roamed over the teens when he'd finished, "Is Snotlout okay?"

Fishlegs nodded, "Yes he's fine, his head wound isn't too bad and it'll heal up fine on its own. Hookfang refused to let him sleep in a tent so he's currently snuggled up in his wings."

He gestured over to where Hookfang was curled up, and the Nightmare raised his head and eyed Heather suspiciously for a bit. Snotlout himself couldn't be seen but the teen was likely still fast asleep in the dragon's protective embrace. Heather joined the conversation, "Where's Ævar?"

Gobber nodded towards the trees, "Tied up outside the camp with Fanghook and Meatlug keeping an eye on him, he woke up a while ago and he's been muttering away to himself ever since."

"What's his story Heather? In the rush to get here I didn't stop to ask."

At Hiccup's question, the woman sighed, "He used to be called Stefan and was something of a skilled healer in the tribe. Then, he started to become focused on extending his own life, no one really knows why he began to think that way but it gradually consumed him. He started experimenting with various elixirs and potions, creating different herbal remedies and testing them on himself, in the end, the concoctions he created ended up snapping his mind. Our other healers have been looking at ways to cure or at least help him but they haven't had any luck."

She frowned and briefly looked over towards where Snotlout slept in Hookfang's wings, "When we heard about what happened with Snotlout and that island he became obsessed with it, muttering about 'magic' and 'living forever'."

Gustav also frowned, "Those were the things Snotlout told us he kept going on about, he also kept calling him 'apple' for some reason."

Heather nodded, "From what we've gathered from his crazed ramblings and scrawled notes. He thinks that because of being frozen in time, Snotlout is somehow the key to achieving eternal life. He calls him 'apple' in reference to Idunn, who's apples keep the gods young." She sighed, "The ramblings of a crazed man, I'm just sorry we didn't manage to warn you in time when he managed to run away from the tribe."

Gobber waved a casual hand, "You did your best lass and no real harm has been done. The lad is pretty shaken but he hasn't been badly hurt, knowing that the man is not going to be able to get to him again will likely put his mind at ease."

Hiccup glanced at the trees towards where the man was being held, "Well, we should probably take him back to Berk, it'll be easier for your brother to pick him up from there."

* * *

Berk appeared on the horizon and Snotlout was happy to see it.

He'd awoken to find that Ævar had already been taken away by Hiccup and Heather and he couldn't deny that it made him far more comfortable. Their camp was swiftly packed up and soon they were in the air and heading homewards.

The flight was subdued and quiet, the other teens barely saying anything, and Snotlout had been confused by it.

When he'd been a part of the Original Riders, they'd often been very noisy through flights like this, even after near misses. He couldn't deny that he was still shaken from what happened but the fact that Ævar was in custody and he was with Hookfang put him greatly at ease, however, it seemed that what had happened had shaken the others far more than him and it took him a while to work out why.

They'd never experienced something like this before.

He'd grown up on the warring Berk, then the dragon-friendly but still working out the kinks Berk, danger had been a regular part of his life. Be it fighting dragon fires before Hiccup shot down Toothless, training to kill dragons or the period where he and the others pioneered dragon training, he'd been in danger a lot. He'd been close to death a lot.

These guys though, they'd lived in a time of incredible peace, any trouble occurring far from their lives. Yeah, they'd been taught how to use weapons and train dragons but there was a vast difference between practicing those skills and actually having to use them in serious situations, he knew that from experience. They'd never been close to serious combat, they'd never actually faced an enemy clearly intent on killing you or been close to someone who was genuinely dangerous. He was beginning to understand why Hiccup had organised this trip in the first place.

Berk's current teens didn't know how to fend for themselves.

As they approached Berk, Snotlout could visibly see the relief on the faces of some of the others, the dragons glided smoothly down towards the docks where a congregation of Vikings were gathering. The moment they touched down, Maribelle's mother swooped in upon her daughter.

"Oh, my darling! Are you alright dear? The whole experience must have been so traumatic for you!"

The girl sniffed dramatically, "Oh it was terrible mother, terrible!"

Snotlout looked at Hookfang and both rider and dragon rolled their eyes.

Seriously!? She hadn't even been there until after the whole event had finished!

"SNOTLOUT!"

He suddenly found himself yanked into Ruffnut's bone-crushing hug as the woman spoke worriedly, "Are you alright? Your head's okay, isn't it?" She looked menacingly at her husband, "Its fine, isn't it?"

Fishlegs held up his hands placatingly, "He's fine dear, but you should probably let him go before you crush him."

She blinked, then quickly released him, just for her daughters to pounce on him from either side.

Since he'd unfrozen, he'd been a guest at the Ingerman household many times and the twins had really taken to him. They loved their surrogate brother/uncle (whichever title they preferred at the time) and they often pounced on him like this. He could just about stay standing when they furiously hugged him but the pounding of feet indicated that it wasn't to be this time.

Tackling him bodily from the front, little Stoick slammed into him and he found himself landing hard on his rear. Awkwardly wrapping his arms around the three kids, he glanced back to see Hookfang sniggering at him and he grinned in slight embarrassment. Eventually, Hiccup came to his rescue and began prying the children off him, "Okay guys, let him go already, he's only been gone a night."

Stoick pouted slightly, "But he hasn't told us about his trip daddy!"

Astrid stepped in, "Well, he and Eret were going to join us for dinner tonight, he can tell you all about it then."

Ruffnut spoke to her daughters, "And we'll be there as well, so why don't you two go and see your daddy, you haven't said hello to him yet."

Immediately changing their focus, the twins pounced on their father while Stoick was led away by his mother, taking advantage of the moment, Eret squeezed himself through the crowd and clapped his hand on Snotlout's shoulder. The teen smiled at the man's unspoken question and Eret returned it with a nod.

Throughout the whole exchange, the surrounding Vikings had greeted the other teens and the crowd was slowly dispersing, Hiccup made his way over to them, "Snotlout, I need you to go over what happened last night with the council, just so we know ourselves in order to give a full explanation to Dagur when he arrives with the Berserkers tomorrow."

Snotlout sighed, "Okay."

The chief smiled, "Good, see you in the Great Hall in an hour."

The boy nodded.

* * *

Late that night, Hiccup sat pensively in his father's old chair.

As she'd told Stoick, Astrid did indeed have the Ingermans and Snotlout and Eret over for dinner. It had been an especially rowdy gathering and it had eventually come to an end when the three kids literally played themselves to sleep. Fishlegs and Ruffnut took their daughters home while Astrid had whisked Stoick up to bed, Snotlout and Eret had also returned home then, the teen looking happy despite his ordeal the night before.

The sudden lull had given Hiccup time to consider what had happened and he found himself with several questions.

He sat there pondering them and his mother spoke quietly, "What are thinking about son?"

He glanced up at her, "Just something that Ævar said."

She sighed, "Hiccup, that man is so far gone I don't think anything he says should be taken as truth. Sadly, his mind is all but lost."

"Maybe, but even madmen have their moments of perceiving more than others."

She frowned, "What did he say that has you so thoughtful?"

Hiccup remained quiet a moment before answering, "He thinks that what happened to Snotlout on that strange island has left lingering effects, traces of whatever causes it to disappear and reappear at different points in time. That's why he wanted Snotlout's blood."

"Did he say what effects are lingering?"

The chief sighed, "He thinks that Snotlout hasn't fully unfrozen from time, like, his personal timeline is moving slower than everyone else's. He's literally aging slower than the rest of the world."

"And is there proof of this?"

Hiccup shrugged, "No, but it is possible. Snotlout was frozen in time for fifteen years, can we really be sure that hasn't had a physical effect on his body? We've assumed that he's fine but what if it has changed him, what if he is aging slower than the rest of us?"

"And what if it's all just the crazed ramblings of a madman?"

Valka stood and placed a gentle hand on her son's head, "Hiccup, all we have is the word of a man who's clearly not mentally well anymore. There's no indication that Snotlout is aging slower or the island's had any other effect on him. However, if it is true then we will know in time, he is at that age where slow growth will show itself eventually and until we have any more information, don't brood over this. Only time will show the truth."

He looked up at her and smiled, "You're right Mom, all we can do is wait and see."

* * *

 _ **PS-So, there's potentially effects lingering on in Snotlout from the island. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	21. Chapter 21

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to another chapter. This one has brief a brief cameo of Dagur in it as well as a little Alpha Toothless. Thank you all for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 21**

Astrid grinned when she saw Snotlout staring at the Berserker ship with wariness.

"You know, they're not here to attack us Snotlout"

The teen glowered at her slightly, "I know that!" He looked back at the ship, "It's just, the last time I saw Dagur he was trying to kill all of us."

Astrid laughed, "Well, I'll give you that one but I promise that he's changed…at least, he isn't trying to kill us anymore."

The ship drew alongside the dock and once it was secure, a gangplank thudded onto the wooden planks and Dagur himself marched down it, his arms flung wide.

"Brother!" He pulled Hiccup into a bone-crushing hug, "It's good to see you again!"

Grimacing at his current lack of oxygen, Hiccup answered, "Good to see you too Dagur. Can you let me breathe now?"

"Oh." The Berserker promptly let him go, "You're still as skinny as ever Hiccup."

The Berkian chief shrugged, "Yeah, I am. Though Mom and Astrid are trying really hard to change that with the amount they're feeding me."

"Hey!" Astrid cut in, "You're the one that seems to eat his own weight in food every day, we're just trying to keep up."

"Being the chief is really hard work, I work up an appetite."

Dagur burst out laughing and began working his way along some of the gathered crowd, "Ruffnut, Fishlegs, you two doing great, how are the twins?"

Ruffnut smacked her husband's arm, "I'm keeping him well in line and Blenda and Borgny are doing great."

"They're pretty excited to see you." Fishlegs added.

"Perfect!" Dagur moved on, "Tuffnut, found the right lady yet?"

The male twin shrugged, "No, not really. None of them seem to understand my deeply sensitive, emotional and morally skewed heart."

"Okay." He moved on, "Eret! How's it going junior rider?"

The man sighed exasperatedly, "Dagur, you know I'm not a 'junior rider'."

"Of course, I do, it's just fun seeing your reaction whenever I call you that." Dagur broke into another round of his cackles and Eret shook his head with a sigh. The Berserker's eyes then fell on Snotlout and he grinned, "Snotlout!"

The teen found himself picked up and shaken excitedly by the chief, "This is amazing! I mean, I've heard about it and Heather told me but to actually see it for myself." He plonked the boy down and stared at him, "You really haven't aged at all, you look exactly the way you did back when I was trying to kill you all!"

Snotlout wasn't really sure how to respond and an awkward silence followed until Dagur seemed to realise what he said, "Yeah, that really wasn't my best of times."

* * *

The two chiefs had disappeared off to sort out transferring Ævar into Berserker custody and most of the respective tribes were mingling while they waited and Snotlout watched in bemusement.

He did know that Berk and the Berserkers had made peace while he was frozen but it was still taking some time to get used to actually seeing it. Berserkers freely interacted with Berkians, talking and laughing like old friends, some of them even had their own dragons and he could see several friendly races happening in the skies. All in all, it really showed just how much change Hiccup had brought and he couldn't deny that Berk seemed to really be enjoying a golden time.

He then frowned at something unusual.

What was Spinelout doing stealing off into the forest by himself?

While the going into the forest itself wasn't that suspicious, it was the way he walked as if trying to remain unnoticed. He would stop and glance back every so often as if to check he wasn't being followed and Snotlout's instincts gave warning.

He was up to something.

Getting up from where he'd been seated, Snotlout stole after the man and followed him into the trees. Winding carefully between the trunks, the teen did his best to keep Spinelout in sight but the Jorgenson was moving quickly. Still, the boy gave chase, doing his best to not make any noise to give himself away, but eventually, the man vanished from view.

Snotlout came to a halt and glanced around before grunting in frustration. He lost him, Spinelout was up to something and he needed to know what!

Sighing, the teen started scouting about the area, hoping to find something to get him back on the trail, when a strange call interrupted him. Snotlout looked nervously around, trying to spot what had made the call. There was rustling behind him and he quickly dived away and spun round just in time to see a dragon emerge from the foliage.

It had a long, thin body and large, butterfly wings and Snotlout racked his brains, trying to remember his dragon knowledge.

What was it? Songwing? Wingsong? Deathwing…Deathsong! A dragon that used its song to hypnotise other dragons into approaching its lair where it would eat them. Now what was the other thing that was unique about them?

The dragon launched its sticky amber, flinging Snotlout back and trapping him against a tree.

Oh yeah, that.

The Deathsong began to slowly approach its trapped prey and Snotlout wasted no time in giving a dragon call. He hoped that Hookfang was close enough to hear it or at least some other dragons might come and help, preferably before the Deathsong started lunch.

The dragon seemed slightly taken aback by his sudden call, but it quickly recovered and resumed its approach. Noticing this, Snotlout gave another, different call, hoping it might buy him more time. Again, the Deathsong stopped in surprise and the teen began running through several different calls, first a Nadder, then a Gronckle, then a Thunderdrum, Zippleback, Rumblehorn and even an attempt at a Night Fury call. Quickly, the dragon realised it was just him making the noise and started to ignore the calls but Snotlout kept going, even if it wasn't stopping the Deathsong, there was still a chance those dragons were in the area and would come and investigate.

However, the dragon got closer and no one was answering. Snotlout gave one last Night Fury call then gulped, finding himself far closer to a set of Deathsong fangs than he liked. As the dragon opened its jaws, ready to start its snack, Snotlout shut his eyes, only to open the immediately when he heard the unmistakeable arrival of Toothless and Hiccup.

A well-placed plasma blast sent the Deathsong staggering away from its prey and it roared angrily. Several more blasts, from other dragons, came down and it started to sing its song. Snotlout could see the dragons starting to become mesmerised but Toothless stomped down one of his feet and gave forth a mighty roar that the teen recognised as his Alpha call. Immediately, the other dragons snapped out of their trance and the Deathsong backed away fearfully. Toothless strode forward and snapped out his wings, roaring ferociously at the rogue dragon and the Deathsong took flight and winged its way away from Berk as if chased by the demons of Hel.

Toothless gave one last roar for good measure and then bounded over to Snotlout, allowing Hiccup off to help the teen out. One quick cut from Inferno and the amber shattered, freeing the boy, and Hiccup patted his shoulder in relief, "You're lucky we heard your Night Fury call, though I think even a Deathsong would've had difficulty with the number of dragons that showed up to help." He frowned, "Are you okay?"

Snotlout grinned, "Yeah. No physical harm done."

Toothless pushed his way in and started nuzzling the boy, rumbling comfortingly. Snotlout began scratching the Night Fury while Hiccup frowned up at the sky, "I don't understand, why would a Deathsong be here? It's not its usual habitat and Toothless' Alpha status tends to keep rogue dragons away."

The teen looked up at him, "Chief?"

Hiccup grinned, "Its nothing Snotlout, maybe I'm overthinking this." Mounting Toothless, he gestured for Snotlout to sit behind him, "C'mon, we better get back to the village. I know that people will be wondering where you've disappeared to, Ruffnut was particularly worried."

Snotlout pulled a face, "I bet she was."

The chief laughed, "Like it or not, I think she sees herself as your surrogate mother." He then pulled a face himself, "Though Astrid also seems to be thinking that about herself as well."

The teen looked up at him pleadingly, "Please say we don't have to tell them about this. I don't think they'll let me go anywhere by myself for ages if we do."

Hiccup held out his hand and pulled the boy up behind him, "I'll see what I can do but no promises. You know how good Astrid is at getting things out of people."

Snotlout sighed, "Yeah, I know."

* * *

 _ **PS-So Spinelout is doing a little bit of sneaking about. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	22. Chapter 22

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello and sorry for the long gap. For a while I couldn't get into writing and then I was on holiday but now I'm back with another chapter. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 22**

Days passed and peace largely reigned over Berk as it had done for several years.

The incident with the Deathsong proved to be a one-off, likely a young one that was looking for an island to settle on. Thankfully, Hiccup and Snotlout did indeed manage to keep it from Astrid and Ruffnut and the teen avoided their over mothering. Snotlout continued to keep up his archery training as well as attend the Dragon Training lessons and daily life generally ran as normal.

* * *

Having just landed after some practical drills, Snotlout dismounted Hookfang and scratched the dragon under the chin, "Nice going Hooky!"

The Nightmare gave a growl of pleasure while the others landed alongside them. Maribelle dismounted Cordillia and sauntered by, not even sparing the boy a glance. It seemed she'd decided to act like he didn't exist (trying to make him feel inferior for being clanless now) and he found he quite liked it, now he didn't have to listen to her pointed comments and insults. The others were far friendlier these days, his archery and hunting skills had impressed, but he wouldn't say they were friends. Peregrine and Fenja were far too embroiled in their constant competition to really hang out with others (though Snotlout was sure it was actually because they had a crush on each other) and he didn't really see them out with class. Huginn was quiet and tended to keep to himself, while the two had spent time together and Hookfang and Silverwing got on well enough, they weren't exactly close.

Fishlegs clapped his hands, attracting his class' attention, "Excellent work everyone!" He smiled, "I have some exciting news for you all."

The teens glanced around at each other, wondering what the news was and Fishlegs wasted no time in telling them, "In two weeks, you're all going to be in a Dragon Race!"

Peregrine punched the air, "Alright! It's been ages since we've had a race!"

Fenja was equally excited, "I can't wait for me and Crushgrip to take the win!"

As the two quickly entered into one of their bragging wars, Snotlout grinned at Hookfang.

Though they'd been attending Dragon Training for a while, they'd yet to learn anything about Dragon Racing. Berk had been rather quiet in the racing department for the last couple of months, due to the Summer Games and other things, so they were both excited to take part in the village's biggest pastime.

Fishlegs shook his head fondly at the excited teens, "Okay everyone, calm down. As I said, the race will be in two weeks and it'll act as the opening race for the new racing season. It'll also be to commemorate the visit of our allies, the Defenders of the Wing."

At that, Huginn gasped, "Seriously, the Defenders of the Wing are coming?"

Snotlout frowned in confusion, "Defenders of the Wing?"

"Oh yeah, I've not got around to teaching you about them yet." Fishlegs smiled, "The Defenders of the Wing are a tribe that live beyond the Archipelago. Like Berk, they also live peacefully with dragons, though they don't ride them. A special dragon, called the Eruptodon, acts as the tribe's protector because it eats the lava of the active volcano on their island, keeping their village safe. They have quite a spiritual connection with dragons and the Eruptodon is greatly revered."

Huginn eagerly added to the explanation, "Their island is pretty far from Berk without a dragon to fly you so they don't often visit, it tends to be a pretty big deal when they do."

Snotlout scratched his head thoughtfully, "Hang on a moment, I think they were mentioned in that travel book thing Tuffnut gave me."

Fishlegs sighed, "I still can't believe he actually wrote that thing." He smiled again, "Anyway, their visits are usually marked with a dragon race, they like them because they say the races are an amazing show of the bond between dragons and people."

Snotlout turned to Hookfang, "And we get to race in front of them. Isn't that awesome Hookfang."

The Nightmare roared in agreement.

* * *

"So, the key to Dragon Racing is that it's not really a race as such, you don't win by crossing the line first."

Fishlegs had offered to teach Snotlout the racing basics out with class since the other teens already knew the rules, this way they didn't have to make them sit through them all over again. They were in the stables feeding some of the baby dragons as Fishlegs explained the races.

"The winner is the one who has the most points after the last lap, points are gained by getting sheep into your marked basket on the finish line, with white sheep being worth one and the black being worth ten. As you fly the course, you'll see marked sheep along the way which you have to pick up and get to the finish line and in your basket before another competitor steals it from you."

Snotlout frowned, "How can you steal a sheep from other people?"

"Well, there are a number of ways and there aren't really any great limits except for a couple of don'ts." Fishlegs began listing them off on his fingers, "You can't deliberately aim to strike the rider, with fire or otherwise, you can't use weapons, you can't use paralysis techniques, like a Flightmare's mist, and you can't seriously injure or deliberately cripple another dragon." He shrugged, "Other than that your free to be imaginative, also, you have to stick to the race course, no taking any shortcuts."

"It still seems kind of overcomplicated."

Fishlegs smiled slightly, "Well, there's such a huge difference between the top speeds of different dragons, some sort of system had to be put in place to make it fairer. If it was a straight race, those with the faster breeds would win all the time."

The teen scratched his head, "I guess that makes sense. A Gronckle is never going to outdo a Nadder in a straight-out sprint."

Beside her rider, Meatlug gave an agreeing rumble and Fishlegs quickly petted her before answering, "Well, that just about covers the basics, the rest is better learned through training and actual races. Every dragon is unique and therefore needs its own style of racing."

"Snotlout!"

The teen turned to see Valka heading his way, "Aunt Valka?"

The woman smiled as she approached, "I've been meaning to speak to you for a while now, as well as take another look at Hookfang."

She stopped beside the dragon in question and gently rubbed his snout, making him rumble in delight. Snotlout felt a little stab of concern, "Is there something wrong with him?"

She gave a laugh, "No, nothing like that. I just wanted another look at his gel, you remember before the games when I said his gel seemed to be unusually high quality?"

"Oh yeah, you also said he seemed to have a lot more than normal."

"Exactly, I just wanted to look him over again to see if I can find out why he has so much good quality gel. I've been meaning to for ages now but other things have always come up."

The teen patted his dragon's flank, "Well, if Hookfang doesn't mind."

The Nightmare growled out his consent and Valka scratched him under the chin, "Thank you Hookfang, it shouldn't take long."

She began leading them over to a quieter corner of the stables and the teen quickly bid farewell to Fishlegs before following, as Hookfang settled down and Valka began her examination, Snotlout spoke up, "Aunt Valka, what do you think about the Defenders of the Wing?"

She briefly looked up at him curiously, "Why are you asking?"

He shrugged, "Everyone is talking about their upcoming visit, I was just curious about them."

She smiled, "Well, they certainly love their dragons and I can't fault them on that. However, they do seem to be rather mistrustful of strangers and some of their traditions and views are a bit too old-fashioned for my tastes."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when it comes to marriages, more often than not the woman doesn't really get a say in who she gets married to, though in many cases the man doesn't either. Also, they tend to treat any new person with suspicion and, in some cases, outright hostility, that and they can be overzealous in their defence of dragons. Usually going for the 'attack first ask questions later' approach if they think someone is harming or mistreating a dragon."

She looked up and frowned, "That kind of paints them in a negative light, doesn't it?"

When the teen merely nodded, she smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry, they're good people and they've been Berk's allies for years. We've reached the point where we've accepted our ways are different and we're content with that, Queen Mala is actually quite an understanding woman."

"Queen Mala?"

"Their leader." Valka explained, "She's quite a wise woman and has become more welcoming to strangers over the years. Though you don't want to get on her bad side, she is very swift in her vengeance and her people always come first."

She finished her examination of Hookfang and nodded, "Well, I'm not quite sure why but Hookfang definitely has very high-quality gel and in excess too. This could be why he's physically weaker than other Nightmares. I don't think he'll ever match up in terms of size and strength but his firepower is far greater and being small makes him faster as well." She rubbed Hookfang's snout and smiled, "You've certainly been looking after him well."

Smiling back, Snotlout also petted his dragon, though much of his mind was occupied with thoughts about the Defenders of the Wing.

* * *

 _ **PS-So the Defenders of the Wing are about to appear. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	23. Chapter 23

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **After far too long, I'm finally back! I'm sorry for the long gap since the last update, but I've just not had the motivation at all to write much over this period, other than one or two things. Now though, we finally get on to the visit from the Defenders of the Wing and Snotlout's first Dragon race. I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 23**

Swooping over a crudely scratched line on Hookfang, Snotlout lobbed a full flour sack into a makeshift basket.

Since the announcement of the visit from the Defenders of the Wing, Snotlout and Hookfang had been practicing for the Dragon Race. Much of the time at the academy had been used for race training, but Snotlout knew he needed extra practice if he was to hold his own against the more experienced teens. Most of his free time had been given over to race practice and he thought he was slowly developing a good style for him and Hookfang.

Most of Berk was getting ready for the upcoming visit, with the village being spruced up ready for their long-time allies' arrival, and Hiccup seemed more conscientious about how the place looked than usual. The arrival date was the next day and a lot of work was being done to get everything set up.

If things went to plan, the Defenders of the Wing would arrive tomorrow afternoon and this would be followed by a welcome feast, with the Dragon Race happening the day after. This really only left Snotlout one day of practice time, since he'd likely be helping prepare for their guests tomorrow morning and then be at the welcome and the following feast. As such, he was squeezing as much practice in as he could.

Glancing up at the darkening sky, he sighed, "Well Hooky, I guess we're going to have to call it there."

The Nightmare rumbled in response and lifted the basket of flour sacks in his claws, flying in the direction of the village. As they flew, Snotlout talked to his friend, "So the Defenders of the Wing arrive tomorrow, I wonder what they're like?"

While he'd asked several people about their coming guests, Snotlout received slightly different explanations from each person. Hiccup was mostly positive about them, as was Astrid, Fishlegs seemed to be in awe of them, Tuffnut's explanation was rather unhelpful and Ruffnut seemed to respect them greatly. He'd also been completely thrown when he'd been told that Dagur was actually married to Queen Mala, making him wonder even more what kind of woman she was to have fallen for the, good, but still slightly unhinged Berserker chief.

They reached the village, just as the light was fading and, dropping of their race training equipment, headed for Eret's house, ready to eat and call it a day.

* * *

Snotlout stood with the crowds, awaiting the arrival of the Defenders of the Wing.

A ship of slightly unusual design sailed up to the docks, was swiftly secured, and lowered a gangplank. A man who carried himself with the air of a warrior, stood in view and spoke loudly to the Vikings, "Announcing Mala, Queen Defender of the Wing!"

Immediately, a lithe woman with blonde hair showing signs of grey, strode down the gangplank. Despite her rather official announcement, she smiled warmly as Hiccup went to meet her, "Chief Hiccup, it is an honour to visit Berk once again."

He smiled in welcome, "Its an honour to have you back here again Queen Mala."

Though Hiccup's interaction seemed more formal than the one he had had with Dagur, it was clear that he and Mala were on very good terms. As the Berserker chief had done, she worked her way down the original riders, until she finally came to Snotlout, Hiccup introduced them, "Mala, this is Snotlout."

Her eyes widened slightly, "The one who's been on the Wandering Isle?"

"Wandering Isle?"

Snotlout frowned in confusion and the queen smiled, "Its what we call the island that froze you in time. Our ancestors discovered it and named it for the way it constantly drifts in and out of time."

Hiccup blinked in surprise, "I didn't know your people had encountered it before?"

"It is a part of some of our old tales, most of us didn't think it existed until we heard about what happened." She explained, she looked at Snotlout once more, "It is indeed good to meet you Snotlout."

* * *

"Now, remember to check your blind spots, your opponents will certainly try to use them, and don't just rush ahead when the race starts, it's the points at the end that decide the winner. And don't forget to…"

"Don't worry Astrid, I know!"

The woman folded her arms and gave Snotlout a slightly offended look, "I'm just trying to give you some last-minute tips."

Hiccup grinned at her, "I think you might be going a bit overboard with your tips Milady."

She huffed, and Hiccup ushered her away, "C'mon now, we've got to go and start the race." He looked back at the teen, "Good luck out there."

"Thanks chief."

Turning to Hookfang, who had just finished polishing off a pre-race portion of fish, the boy clapped his hands together, "Okay Hooky, let's do this!"

* * *

Hiccup stood before the chieftain's chair and held his hand up for silence.

Immediately, the huge crowd focused their attention upon him and he grinned, "Well everyone, it's the moment you've all been waiting for. Some of our best up-and-coming riders are about to show us their skills and their bonds with their dragons." He looked down at the competitors lined up on the starting line, "Now, let's have a clean race out there, you all know the rules and I expect you to abide by them." He turned to Mala, "Queen Mala, if you would do the honours."

The woman stood centre stage and held up her arm, "I wish you all the best of luck. May the race…" She swung her arm down, "…begin!"

The starting horn went, and the dragons instantly shot into the air, zipping off around the course as Vikings and Defenders jumped in their seats, screaming their support. On the main platform, Astrid was on her feet shouting advice at Snotlout, "Remember the blind spots! Use them to your advantage!"

Mala chuckled, "Well, it seems clear who you want to win." She looked to Hiccup, "I take it that Snotlout is your favourite as well?"

The chief smiled, "Well, we are related, and he was one of Berk's first dragon riders. To be honest, this is the first time we've really had someone that we want to win." He watched the unfolding race, "Looks like Fenja has the first sheep, let's see if she manages to get it to the basket."

Mala watched with great interest, "Her and her dragon work very well together."

The crowd gave a roar of excitement as Hiccup commented, "That was a good move by Peregrine, he used Tinderclaw's sheer size to block Crushgrip off and startle him into dropping the sheep…oh! And now Huginn has nipped in and grabbed it before anyone else could catch it."

Mala sat up in excitement, "Look at his razorwhip go, he's leaving the others far behind."

Hiccup nodded, "Silverwing is pretty fast…"

He got no further, as Astrid shot to her feet in excitement, "Yes Snotlout! That's it!"

The teen had lingered back throughout the initial flurry, but Hookfang had suddenly put on an explosive burst of speed and shot in front of Silverwing. He'd snapped his wings forward and created a mighty blast of air, not enough to unseat Huginn or knock the razorwhip out the sky, but it was enough to knock the sheep out of the other boy's hands and right into Snotlout's. The Nightmare shot away, towards the starting line, allowing Snotlout to neatly dump the sheep in the basket, claiming the first point.

Tuffnut, who was by a thunder ear commentating, shouted with glee, "And Snotlout claims the first point! Can he keep the winning streak going or will another competitor snatch the lead!?"

* * *

In the stands, Eret whooped, "Atta boy Snotlout!"

Beside him, Fishlegs clapped furiously, "That was an excellent move, though the others are going to be wise to it now."

"Who cares!" Ruffnut shouted beside him, "Snotlout's in the lead!" She jumped to feet, screaming at the top of her lungs, "That's the way Snotty, show no mercy and crush the competition!"

"Isn't that a little too extreme?" Her husband murmured.

"Nonsense!" Snotlout's grandmother snorted from Eret's other side, she also leapt to her feet, "Utterly destroy them Snotlout!"

Eret shrugged at the other man, "Look at it this way Fishlegs, at least they're clearly supporting him."

* * *

The race was closely fought, Fenja gained a point, then Maribelle stole one, then Peregrine snatched one at the last second, Huginn scored two in quick succession and Snotlout grabbed another one, closely followed by Fenja, Peregrine and Maribelle claiming one of the last three each.

Finally, the time came for the black sheep, and with all competitors equal, there was everything to play for.

All five dragons swooped upon the freshly launched sheep, but Maribelle's dragon, Cordillia got there first, snatching the animal neatly out the sky.

* * *

In the stands, Ruffnut was on her feet, basically dancing as she waved her arms wildly, "Get her Snotlout! Blast that princess and her dragon out of the sky!"

Fishlegs attempted to pull her back down, "Dear, remember that's against the rules."

"Take her down grandson!" Snotlout's grandmother screamed, "Smash 'em!"

Fishlegs, sighed, "He's not allowed to do that either."

Eret frowned, "Is it just me, or is something up with Hookfang?"

* * *

Something was certainly wrong with Hookfang.

The Nightmare's flying had become unstable, the dragon swaying about as if drunk and Snotlout wasn't sure what was wrong.

"What is it Hooky, what's the matter?"

The dragon suddenly bucked, thrashing his head about and nearly dislodging his rider. Snotlout grabbed hold off his friends scales tightly, calling out in fear, "Hookfang, what's wrong!?"

The Nightmare roared, and bucked again, smacking himself into one off Berk's buildings in the process. He then flew wildly away, out over the cliffs around Berk with Snotlout clinging for dear life.

* * *

It was now clear to everyone that something was very wrong, the race forgotten as Hookfang went out of control.

Hiccup was already up and mounting Toothless, snapping out orders, "Mom, Astrid, get in the air and follow me quickly. Gobber, stop the race!"

Those he addressed hastened to obey as Toothless leapt of the platform and flew straight towards the pair.

* * *

Eret quickly pushed his way through the stands, calling Skullcrusher as he went.

Fishlegs and Ruffnut had also snapped into action, and he could hear the female twin berating her brother through the Thunder Ear, where he'd stayed to commentate on the unfolding trouble. People around him were muttering in concern, but a few of the Dragon Guard, Gustav included, were already in the air, either helping to bring the race to a halt, or heading to assist their chief.

Skullcrusher swooped down, coming to a rough hover at the edge of the stands, ready to receive his rider. Without hesitation, Eret jumped over the edge, landing neatly on the Rumblehorn's back, a gasp of horror came from the crowd and he snapped his head up in time to see Snotlout plummeting towards the sea, having finally been flung from Hookfang's back.

Skullcrusher shot in that direction, as fast as he was able. Fortunately, Toothless and Hiccup were already on the case and the Night Fury swiftly caught the falling rider, causing Eret to sigh in relief.

Regardless, they kept up their speed, Hookfang was still airborne and was thrashing about like crazy. The other dragons were trying but were hesitant about harming the Nightmare so weren't making much progress in calming him down. Deciding that drastic measures were needed, Eret guided Skullcrusher in a ramming flight, straight at the other dragon. The Rumblehorn hit hard, not enough to cause too much harm, but enough to render the Nightmare unconscious.

Skullcrusher deftly caught Hookfang before he fell, and the other dragons swiftly moved in to help carry the weight. Swiftly, they lowered the Nightmare gently to the ground, where Valka and Mala were already waiting.

The two women immediately began examining the dragon as everyone else gave them space to work. Toothless landed nearby and Snotlout practically tumbled off the Night Fury and ran to his friend, Hiccup close behind.

"Hookfang!"

Eret quickly intercepted the boy and held him back so the woman could do their examination. Hiccup asked the question, "What's wrong with him?"

His mother shook her head, "There's no physical injury that could've caused this." She looked to her helper, "Queen Mala?"

The queen was holding Hookfang's jaw open as she examined inside, "His tongue is swollen, as if reacting to something." She looked up at Hiccup, shock stamped across his face.

"I think something's poisoned him!"

* * *

 _ **PS-So there we have it, I hope it was at least partly worth the wait. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update far sooner than last time.**_


	24. Chapter 24

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome once again. This chapter follows on from the events of the last and starts to set up more aspects of the story. It looks at several different characters and the movements behind the scenes. Thank you those who've continued to support this story, despite the long gaps between updates, and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 24**

Snotlout sat by his friend, well into the depths of the night.

Queen Mala and Valka had worked tirelessly for hours upon Hookfang, trying to work out exactly what had been ingested by the dragon. They hadn't come any closer to an answer, but the effects of whatever it was had started to wear out on their own, indicating them to be only temporary. However, both women wanted the Nightmare to rest as much as possible and had had him moved to the main stables where they could keep a close eye on him, in case of any sudden developments.

Snotlout had immediately proclaimed his desire to stay in the stables with his friend and no one even bothered to try and talk him out of it (they all knew he'd just ignore them if they'd tried) and he sat by Hookfang's side all night, keeping careful watch for any changes that could happen.

Focused as he was on the Nightmare, he didn't notice Skullcrusher lingering nearby, keeping watch himself. Eventually, when exhaustion finally overpowered the teen's will to stay awake and draw him into slumber, the Rumblehorn came over and curled around the boy as best he could, maintaining vigil for him.

* * *

Hiccup rubbed his eyes tiredly, groaning slightly.

Across the table he sat at, Astrid glanced up at him, "Maybe its time to call it a night now."

He groaned again, "Maybe." He sighed, "I just don't like the idea of resting when what happened today is still unresolved."

"I know dear." She responded, "That's what makes you a great leader, but you won't get any further by running yourself into the ground."

Fishlegs was also present, and he drummed his fingers on the table, "The problem is that we can't really respond to it the way we want to, I mean, we can all probably guess who's responsible."

"Spinelout." Astrid supplied.

The man nodded, "Yes, I mean, its not exactly hard to narrow down the list of suspects, the problem is, we have no proof that he did it. He certainly wasn't spotted acting suspiciously, and he likely has any number of excuses ready to defend himself. At the moment, all we have are our own suspicions."

Hiccup sighed, "I don't like this, harming Hookfang is bad enough but I'm sure this is only the start. He isn't going to give up on getting more power for himself."

Astrid frowned, "We're going to have a keep a close eye on him, and I suggest keeping a close eye on Snotlout as well. Spinelout is going to try and harm him in some way again."

* * *

As suspected, no evidence was dug up connecting Spinelout to Hookfang's drugging, and Hiccup was left unable to do something about it.

In terms of the drug itself, Mala, Valka and Fishlegs believed it was some sort of compound of dragon root and eel, two things that negatively affected most dragons. The substance seemed to fade away on its own, and Hookfang recovered with no apparent side-effects, but with Berk having all but destroyed its dragon root population because of its effects, the question of how someone got their hands on it remained.

Fortunately, the event hadn't done much to the relations between Berk and the Defenders of the Wing, Queen Mala understood that it was the actions of one person, and not at all reflective of Berk as a whole. She'd even offered to look into how dragon root had reached the island when she returned home, an offer Hiccup readily accepted.

"Thanks Mala, if you find anything, let us know."

"Of course, Chief Hiccup." She responded, "It's the least we can do for our long-standing allies."

He smiled, then frowned thoughtfully, "Queen Mala, you said that the name of the island Snotlout was frozen on was called Wandering Isle."

She inclined her head, "Indeed, at least, that's what my people call it."

"Do your legends say anything more about it?"

"Not much truthfully." She explained further, "My ancestors called it Wandering Isle, because it continuously drifted in and out of existence, one day it would be there, the next it would be gone. Indeed, we weren't aware it drifted out of time until what occurred with Snotlout."

"So, no one has ever been stuck on it before like he was?"

"Not that we know of." She answered. She then frowned, "Why do you ask?"

He sighed, "A few weeks ago, we met a man called Ævar, did Dagur mention this?"

She nodded, "Indeed, my own healers tried to do what we could for him but I'm afraid we had little success."

He continued, "Well, he seemed to think that Snotlout is…well…aging slower than everyone else."

She frowned again, "Chief Hiccup, Ævar is hardly the most reliable source of information. For all intents and purposes, Snotlout seems to be aging at the same rate as everyone else."

Hiccup ran a hand through his hair, "I know, but I just can't get the thought out of my head, what if he is aging slower?"

She smiled, "Well, your instincts have proven right often in the past, but I'd advise against becoming too focused on this. Perhaps Snotlout is indeed aging slower, but that sounds more like something of a good thing to me."

"I guess you're right."

* * *

With a happy roar, Hookfang dived and levelled out, glad to be back in the air after Valka declared him well enough to fly.

Snotlout also gave a whoop and laughed, "Nice one Hooky!"

The Nightmare rumbled happily and soared over the ocean, swooping low and brushing his claws along the tips of the waves, he then grinned evilly and dived underwater, giving his rider no warning whatsoever.

Moments later, he resurfaced and took to the air, a spluttering Snotlout berating him.

"Hookfang! Why do you do that?!"

The dragon chortled unrepentantly in response and continued to ascend lazily into the sky. He levelled out and continued at a leisurely pace, Snotlout attempting to wring his soaked clothes out a little. The boy lazily looked out over the sea, then frowned as he spotted a small boat out on its own.

"Hey, what's that?"

Hookfang growled and frowned along with his rider. Without prompting, he flew lower in order to try and help Snotlout identify the vessel.

Unfortunately, they were close to the shore, in an area filled with sea stacks and the boat swiftly disappeared from sight. They circled around the rough area of its former location but saw nothing and Snotlout shrugged, "Maybe it was someone from Berk out on a lone fishing trip."

Hookfang rumbled in agreement, but both dragon and rider still felt uneasy.

They couldn't put their finger on it, but something felt off, they were sure something else was going on. However, with nothing else to go on, they turned away and flew back towards Berk.

* * *

Spinelout sat sullenly in a large chair, glowering at the flames before him.

Around the shelves carved into the rocky surroundings, sat several other members of the Jorgenson clan, sharing his anger.

This was a secret place, known only to a few, most of which were present, and Spinelout used it to hold meetings with his most loyal followers. This is where his ambition was clearest, and at its most dangerous.

His eyes roamed over those gathered, and he spoke dangerously, "Which one of you spiked the dragon's food?"

Silence was his only answer, and his eyes narrowed, picking out the one who looked most nervous.

"Gorelout."

The man in question visibly gulped, "Spinelout, sir."

"It was you wasn't it?"

Spinelout's words were more a deadly fact than a question, and Gorelout began to shake, "I was only trying to punish the outcast, he didn't deserve to win nor have any form of achievement."

Spinelout sat up, "Do you realise how suspicious it looked, Snotlout's dragon suddenly going wild during a race, and with Mala present nonetheless. Did you really think she and Valka would not recognise that the Nightmare had been poisoned?"

"Well…I…"

"And of course, that instantly puts suspicion on me, we now have to be very careful to avoid Hiccup's watchful gaze."

Gorelout bowed his head, "I'm sorry."

"We must continue with our plans carefully, now is not the time to risk tipping our hand through foolishness. Understand?"

The man nodded, "Yes, it won't happen again."

"Good."

Spinelout looked to the rest, "Now, we must use extreme caution, the situation is…delicate. It would be best if we slow our progress a little, let Hiccup and the rest become less watchful."

He transferred his gaze to another, "Spearlout, how are our…negotiations…going."

A shifty looking man answered, "As well as can be expected, repeated discussions with our potential assistant are progressing. He wants to get his hands on Snotlout as much as you do, plus, his methods may help us extract details of the Jorgenson Trial from the boy."

Spinelout nodded, "Excellent." He looked to another of his followers, "Audhild, are acquisitions of supplies on schedule."

A business-like woman inclined her head slightly, "Indeed, our suppliers are more than happy to trade what we have to offer for whatever we need. Of course, transporting our purchases secretly is difficult, but we've remained unnoticed so far."

"Good." Spinelout frowned, "It will be difficult to time everything correctly. We must make sure all our plans are carefully laid before beginning, once we kidnap Snotlout, Hiccup and his allies will be on the hunt for him. We won't have much time to complete our objectives before we lose the advantage."

"I believe I have something that can help with that."

He glanced up in surprise, "What do you mean, Foxlout?"

A man lounged carelessly upon one of the shelves, "A contact I have specialises in subtle operations like kidnappings, he can not only take Snotlout, but do so in a way that will put Hiccup and the rest on a wild goose chase that'll last for ages. That'll help keep suspicion off us as we fulfil the plan at our own place."

Spinelout frowned, "And what will this 'specialist' want in exchange?"

Foxlout waved a hand carelessly, "Nothing really, apparently he had a bit of a falling out with Spitelout some time ago, he'll consider getting time to do as he wishes with Snotlout as payment this time. He even said he'd help get the information you want out of the boy."

Spinelout grinned, "How very generous. Let's take him up on his offer."

The other man smiled, "Sure thing, I'll let him know and arrange a meeting so you two can sort out all the details."

Satisfied, Spinelout addressed those gathered as a whole, "Very well, we shall continue with preparations. With patience and cunning, we'll finally get the Jorgenson clan into the great position it deserves!"

* * *

The secret meeting over, Foxlout ambled along the dark cliffs of Berk, far from the eyes and ears of anyone else.

Breathing in the cold night air, he smirked as he thought Spinelout and his 'grand plan'.

Spinelout was ambitious but foolish, he thought himself cunning and clever, but he didn't realise that he was so easily manipulated. The rest of the clan may follow him blindly, but Foxlout was no such devoted minion, he had his own agenda.

He sensed the presence of another, and chuckled.

"Wolflout, I wasn't expecting you to be in the area."

He turned and saw another man, sat so still upon a nearby rock, he could well have been taken for a statue.

The man's voice gave little away, "But I was expecting you, I feel that things are stirring in Berk."

Foxlout smiled playfully, "Of course your instincts would bring you back here now. Seems that several skeletons of the Jorgenson clan are coming out of the closet, so to speak." He grinned, "Though enough with the 'I felt it' stuff, you heard about Snotlout's reappearance and came to see for yourself. You always did have a soft spot for that boy."

"And you only have interests in yourself." Wolflout retorted, "Using the clan's ambitions to further your own goals?"

"But of course." Foxlout smiled, "Trying to glean my motives from what I say?"

"More from what you don't say."

Foxlout sat on the ground, and casually lay down, closing his eyes, "You were always so good at subterfuge. Certainly, better than any other Jorgenson, too bad the clan doesn't respect the fine art of subtlety." He opened one eye, "Hence why father effectively threw you out."

Wolflout snorted, "I am well aware that you certainly helped push him towards that decision, clearing the way for yourself naturally."

"So, are you now here to try and stop me, out of revenge?"

"I am here to stop you, but not out of revenge."

Foxlout sat up in interest, "Oh?"

Wolflout huffed, "Revenge is for fools, my motivations are quite different." He stood, "Now, I have some Jorgenson schemes to unravel."

With barely a sound, Wolflout disappeared into the night, and Foxlout lay back down, smiling in amusement, "Not here for revenge? What else could you want…oh…I see." He burst out laughing, "Oh that's just hilarious, so that's your motivation!"

He sat up once more.

"Let's see how far it gets you, brother."

* * *

 _ **PS-So this marks the third version of Wolflout (he's appeared in two other stories of mine in different AUs) and reveals the machinations in the shadows. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


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